|
1 January 2016
(Friday) - New Year's Day
At New Year it is traditional to reflect on what has gone before and
what is to come. Realistically for me the last year has been pretty marvellous compared to how I thought things might have
been. Things could have been better; they could have been considerably worse.
Looking at social media over brekkie gave me pause for thought on the matter, Everyone else has been making such reflections
over the last day. There are those who feel they have had a really good year.
There are those who feel they have had a terrible year. Admittedly much of
what happens to us is beyond our control; who knows when the rug is going to
be pulled (viciously and nastily) out from under us. But in many ways
life is a frame of mind. Those who weren't happy with 2015 as a year also
didn't much like 2014 either and (quite frankly) seem to have already
decided against 2016. Life *isn't* what you make it; but your own frame of mind is.
And that will be this year's New Year Resolution; a lot less sulking and
being a miserable old git.. We set off to Great Chart; having been asked to organise
the New Year event I'd put a series of twenty geocaches out around the area
for a walk this morning. I'd posted that anyone who fancies an early morning
geo-wander might like to meet us in Great Chart this morning. I was expecting
a dozen people; I was hoping for twenty. In all we had thirty-six people (and
four dogs). I knew the terrain was muddy; but I didn't know it was going
to be *that* muddy. It had certainly got a lot worse in the two weeks
since I last walked the route Three trial runs of this route had each taken me a shade over two
hours; today we took two and a half hours. And once we'd walked we made our
way to the pub where a dozen other friends (old and new) were waiting
to meet us. We had a rather good spot of lunch and a few pints and spent time
chatting. In retrospect it was perhaps a little cold to be sitting outside;
perhaps the people at the pub had over-sung the praises of the patio heaters.
But I had a good time. I think the final head count at the meet was over
fifty; I was well impressed. We walked home throuigh the park just as the
rain started. I'd taken a few
photos of the mud whilst we'd been out. Once home (and with dogs
bathed) I put the photos on-line and then promptly fell asleep. I woke a few hours later to find that "er
indoors TM" had boiled up a rather good bit of scoff. We
devoured it whilst watching the ITV2 channel. There were a couple of films
on; "Despicable Me" and "Skyfall". I rarely watch TV as it is broadcast - do normal people *really*
put up with all these adverts? |
|
2 January 2016
(Saturday) – Joggers
After a rather good night's sleep I was woken by the noise of my CPAP
device. It was rather noisy so I turned it off and then I got rather
breathless. So I got up and (as "er indoors
TM" and the dogs snored) had a mooch
on-line over brekkie. Among other nonsense I'd had an email offering me a
bargain; the option to buy
an endoscope for only a tenner. With three and a half metres
of cable I could shove the thing down the plug hole
to have a good look at the inside of the drains and see the results on the
screen of my phone. Do people actually buy this stuff? As I smurfed the net (!) "Furry
Face TM" came and jumped up onto the sofa with me,
plonked his chin on the hand I was using to type with, and went to sleep. For
all that everyone else sees a noisy excitable little dog,
he is actually rather soppy when he thinks no one else is watching. With brekkie scoffed I took one half of our resident wolf pack for a
walk (Sid was still asleep). What with one thing and another I'd
rather forgotten about the joggers and their Saturday morning running round
the park. As we dodged the joggers we met up with Orangehead
and her Chunky Little Friend. Chunky Little Friend wasn't happy; she'd had a
run-in with one of the joggers. She'd been walking her dog through Victoria Park this morning as some
of the joggers ran by six or seven abreast. The joggers swore at her for
daring to be on the same path as they were. OrangeHead
(being Queen Bee of the Viccie Park dog walking
circuit) chirped up that all the other dog walkers also get verbal abuse
on Saturday mornings from groups of joggers who insist on running together in
such a way as to completely fill the paths and who expect everyone else to
jump into the hedges to avoid them. Apparently OrangeHead knows the particular
jogger who had a go at her Chunky Little Friend, and OrangeHead
is going to report said jogger to the authorities for child abuse. This jogger
was forcing a small child to jog with him when clearly the child didn't want
to. I smiled politely and offered the observation that from what I'd seen
over the last year or so I didn't think that people were allowed to jog round
the park *unless* they were in groups six or seven abreast,(all with expressions showing they are in pain)
swearing at passers by whilst forcing small children to run with them (whilst
the children quietly cry that they want to go home). We came home via Christchurch Road where something had happened. I
don't know what it was, but there was a gaggle of people standing around
asking each other if they knew what had happened. They asked me if I knew
what had happened; I said that I didn't. They all started telling each other
that I didn't know what had happened either. I asked what had happened to
which a rather distraught woman exclaimed "we don't know". I left them to it, came home and had a cuppa.
My dog jumped onto the sofa with me and did something which amazed me, He stole one of my biscuits and munched it there and
then. I didn't know what to say or do; he has *never* done anything
like that before. I can't help but wonder if he was showing off in front of
Sid. "er indoors TM" wanted to do the weekly Tesco food shopping.
I won't lie; I didn't. But the day before a night shift is often somewhat
dull, so I went along on the off-chance that there might have been an
adventure. There wasn't. As well as all the dull stuff we got Belgian buns for lunch. Not that
I'm an expert on the subject, but Tesco's Belgian buns aren't a patch on the
Co-op's ones. And with bun scoffed I took myself off to bed for the
afternoon. It was as well I was down to be working tonight (and so needing
an afternoon in bed) as it was raining outside. I don't mind the rain
when it is not stopping me from doing outdoor stuff. I slept surprisingly well..... I'm off to the night shift now. |
|
3 January 2016
(Sunday) – Goldfinger
Last night as I worked I listened to the radio. I do that on my way to
and from work and on night shifts. I once found just how easy it was to get
out of touch with current affairs so (much as it winds me up) I listen
to the radio's news and current affairs programmes
when I can. Not having listened to any news for a week I was wondering what had
happened in the wider world. It would seem the major event of news was the
fact that he football team Manchester
City had won a game. I heard about this in amny
reports and articles all night long. I was going to ask "who cares"
but it is quite clear that a *lot* of people must care for it to have
had such a high profile last night. After a rather busy night I came home and went straight to bed.
Despite endless phone calls and dogs barking I stayed there for seven hours
until I gave up trying to sleep. Over a rather late brekkie I checked social
media. My niece was hit by a car last night. The incident wasn't (quite)
as serious as it sounds; she was walking along a lane and she was clipped on
the hand by the car's wing mirror. Her hand was rather seriously bruised; the
car's wing mirror didn't survive the impact. It is a sign of our times that she was ranting about the matter within
seconds of it having happened, but she didn't think to take the number of the
car that hit her. I also confirmed something I had suspected yesterday. Toward the end
of last year in the company of several hunters of tupperware
I'd started on the Essex Way series of
geocaches; a guided walk of over four hundred geocaches along a route of
over eighty miles. Yesterday I heard reports that this series was being
archived. My first reaction was disappointment; with other caches to be found on
the way this was a series of over six hundred finds which could be done in
smaller easy segments. I'd only done two of them. It looks like this series
had only been out for one year. Much as I advocate not leaving caches out for
ever I can't help but feel that one year was perhaps rather a short time. Having said that it looks as though no one has been out along the
second stretch since we walked it some six weeks ago. And it also looks as if
no one had walked the first stretch since we walked it back in October.
Realistically there are only so many people who will walk a linear route;
they need some preparation as you need to have a car at each end. Perhaps the
route really had run its course? It would have been good to have gone back to
Essex to finish the walk but with this walk gone the area is now clear for
others. People are already talking about putting out new series. As I scoffed my toast (with my wolf pack on my lap) I watched
the telly with half an eye. I had been hoping that
"Upstairs Downstairs" might have been on. It wasn't, but the
James Bond film "Goldfinger" was.
I was surprised at just how much Sid was watching the film; he was growling
at the screen at least once every five minutes. As the afternoon wore on I
found myself more and more captivated by the film. For all that it is an
iconic film (actually as old as I am), it is rather crap really. Would
Goldfinger *really* not have shot Bond dead
so much earlier. And would he *really* have put up with so much
nonsense from him? And now I'm off to another night shift. These days between the night
shifts are rather dull.... |
|
4 January 2016
(Monday) – Laundry
We had some blue cheese over Christmas. Last night "er indoors TM" boiled the last of it
into an omelette for tea. It was really good. I *love*
blue cheese in an omelette. But it doesn't love me.
Invariably it doesn't sit well, and I never remember this until it is too
late. And so I spent much of last night with something of a guts ache. As I worked on the night shift I listened to the
radio. Regular readers of this drivel may recall that I commented on the sad
death of Lemmy (of Motorhead
fame) last week. There is a program on the radio every Sunday evening which
runs features on the celebrities who have recently died. Obviously Lemmy was featured last night. I didn't know that he was
sacked from the band "Hawkwind"
having been caught
smuggling drugs into America. I know I'm getting old, but do we *really*
make heroes out of drug smugglers? I've found these last two night shifts quite tiring.
I was glad when the relief arrived this morning. I came home and took the
dogs for a walk. "Furry Face TM" was raring to
go; Sid actually went and hid (again). Sid doesn't seem to want to go
for walks but he had no choice today. We didn't go far; I was hoping to go
round the park but a heavy rainstorm put paid to our plans. We cut our walk
short and I went to bed. I slept like a log and was deeply engrossed in a
dream about the importance of cartography in a post-apocalyptic nighmare when I was rudely awoken by the dogs barking. To
hear the commotion you would think that it was the end of the world. Actually
it was the postman. I got up, put washing into the washing machine and
then intended to look at the accounts but was unable to. The bank's on-line
facility was kaput. I hope it is not serious. Instead I had a look at my plan
to fill in my geo-calendar. I have some forty-two days (between now and 8
July) on which I need to log finds to complete this challenge. Due to the
way in which my shifts work most of those days are days when I'm not working.
Finding them on the days when I am not working shouldn't be too
problematical. However eighteen of these are days when I am
working. Which means a cheeky find on the way to or from
work. However over the last three and a half years I have pretty much
found everything between home and work. I shall have to study that geo-map
and see if I can't organise some circuitous drives
to work. Washing came out of the washing machine and onto the
clothes horse; more washing went in, and I backed up December's blog entries.
Followning the demise of my original storage I've set up a backup just in case
the Blogger website goes west. Having backed up I then browsed some blog
entries from eight years ago. In retrospect although life is a lot more
peaceful now the fruits of my loin have left home, it is a lot less "danilicious". I sorted my (washed and dried) undercrackers whilst watching "Upstairs
Downstairs" until "er indoors TM"
came home and boiled up some scran. And with her
off bowling I made a start on the ironing. I got the ironing box empty, but
realistically all that has done has made space to put the washed laundry.
Once I've got it dry... |
|
5 January 2016
(Tuesday) - Flooded Park
Despite being woken by the rain at some point in the night it didn't
disturb me for long. I slept for over nine hours last night. Presumably the
after-effect of two night shifts? I put all the white landry into the washing
machine and then fed the dogs. Sidney hoovered his food up; Fudge walked
away, but at my insistence he came back and nibbled at it for a bit. He's
been off his food for the last few days. I wonder what's bothering him. Mind
you he's never been a greedy dog. Over my own brekkie I saw three new geocaches had gone live nearby.
The local "FTF-grabber" had
been out and done the "FTF-happy-dance"
on all three barely an hour after their publication and over an hour before
I'd woken up. Whilst he is doing nothing at all wrong in charging out like
that, I can't help but wonder if it would be good to give others a chance.
Especially when the local "FTF-grabber"
operates as a team of four. In many parts of the world many people enjoy the
race for FTF; in these parts no one bothers trying
any more. Not much had happened on social media. A lot of people were sulking
that the Christmas holidays were over. I must admit that I've had a rather
good break; and (in many ways) what with a biopsy tomorrow and a night
shift on Friday I've still got another week before I'm back to work "properly". I then took my wolf pack (of two small dogs) for a walk round
to the park. Today must have been "National Pick Up Your Dog Day";
everyone that we met who had a dog today picked their dog up as we
approached. What was that all about? We had to adjust our route through the park somewhat; everywhere we
went was flooded. We got home to find it was mid day already.
Where had the morning gone? I popped up the road to the corner shop for a
sandwich. Having looked at my blog archive yesterday I realised
that my sandwich cost the same today as it did eight years ago. As I scoffed my sandwich I watched the weekend's broadcast of "War
and Peace". I've never read the book but what I saw was rather
good. I quite liked the appearance of Adrian Edmonson as Count Rostov; it
never fails to amaze me how the alternative comedians of the 1980s are
actually rather good actors. Both Rik Mayal and
Alexei Sayle have been excellent in straight roles.
The actress playing Natasha looked very familiar; but it took an Internet
search to show me she's actually been in Downton Abbey. I got the second load of washing hung on to the clothes horse just as
the torrential rain started and I then had (yet) another attempt to
get proper maps working on my phone's geo-app. This is something I've been
struggling with (on and off) for nearly a year. At Friday's geo-meet I
met the chap who'd given me instructions to set it up in the first place, and
he gave me one or two pointers. After a minute's twiddling I now have it
working. Now the burning question.... having got
decent maps back on my phone do I still need a GPS unit? The geo-admin is
easier with a GPS unit, and the GPS unit comes with a lanyard so it hangs
round my neck. But with "proper" maps on my phone (and
tablet) there *really* isn't much to choose between the phone and
the GPS. Whilst waiting for the laundry to dry I spent a little while solving
geo-puzzles with a view to go for a walk at the weekend. There's no denying that whilt the morning
flew past, the afternoon dragged somewhat. With the laundry basket *finally* emptied "er indoors TM" came home with a ton
of washing generated by "Daddies
Little Angel TM" and "Stormageddon
- Bringer of Destruction TM". What with the usual Tuesday crew being (nearly all) indisposed
we had a rather good bit of scoff and watched "War and Peace".
"er indoors TM"
wanted to watch it, and I wanted to watch it again to figure out what had
been going on... |
|
6 January 2016
(Wednesday) - Back to the Hospital
Another good night's sleep; I was out for the count for over eight
hours last night. I like that. Over brekkie my piss boiled somewhat as I looked on-line. Last year at
the General Election several people of my acquiantance
were perhaps a little vocal in standing up for their favoured
political choice and quite condescending to anyone who thought otherwise.
This morning the same people are rather outspoken about being very unhappy
about the obvious consequences of the policies of the government that they (loudly)
voted in. Voting at elections *shouldn't* about voting for your mate, or
about voting to send them all back on the next banana boat. It should be
about making considered choices for a better future. And to make those
choices people *really* need to consider all the options on offer and
hear *all* the policies of each choice; not knee-jerk vote for the
first pundit to offer you free fish in your hand up-front now. I would say that that people have made their own bed, now they must
lay in it, but I too am laying in that same uncomfortable bed. Did I ever
mention that I don't beleive in democracy? I put the leads onto the dogs; Sid first ran away, then with his lead
having been forcibly attached he went to his basket. He *really*
didn't want to go out. Fudge however was bouncing about like a thing
possessed. I intended to go to the park, but with two approaches flooded I
changed tack and we walked round by the river. As we walked we saw something
odd. Two tramps had obviously been sleeping rough under the bridge by the
railway station. They were politely sharing a bottle of red wine for
breakfast, and both had new bicycles. I wonder what that was all about. At the earliest opportunity I let both dogs off of their leads. Fudge
did his own thing. Sid stayed at heel until he needed a tiddle
then (realising I'd walked on)
refused to move until I went back for him. He does that; whenever he
straggles (for whatever reason) he *really* doesn't want to
catch up. He would much rather I went back for him at which point he walks perfectly
at heel. I noticed that the river was quite full this morning. I wonder if it
will burst its banks. A few years ago there were floods in Cornwall. Last
year floods in Somerset. Now floods in Yorkshire. However once there has been floods the rivers get dredged and all is (relatively)
well. Does it really take a genius to realise that
some relevent authority should be scraping out the
downstream sections of the Great Stour now? Once home I settled the dogs and then went to the local hospital. It
is now four and a half years since it and I had a somewhat acrimonious
parting of the ways and even after all this time it still rankles. But
leaving all that aside I had to go there for the
next stage of the ongoing saga of the lump in my neck. Last spring I was
urgently referred to the hospital under the two-week cancer referral scheme.
I did write quite a long and in-depth tale about what has been going on; but
decided against posting it up here. I expect my loyal readers will understand
why I am loathe to do so. I went back today, and again I had my neck ultrasounded.
Whatever it was they found over the summer hasn't grown at all but they
performed another aspiration on the side of my neck. I go back to find out
what this revealed (or didn't) in a few weeks time.
It might be a lymphoma; it might not. Personally I doubt it is anything to
worry about at all. Time will tell. it always does... I came home and spent much of the afternoon slobbing
about. I had been rather dubious about taking a day's sick leave on the day
of the first aspiration but in retrospect was glad that I had done so. I had
no qualms about doing so today. As the anaesthetic wore off it felt as
though I'd been punched in the side of my neck, and so I sulked in front of
the telly. Last night I'd recorded a film to watch.
"The
Girl Next Door" promised to be quite a raunchy saucy way to
spend the afternoon. It wasn't. It was rather dull and despite several jubblies having been "flopped out" the
film was probably about an hour longer than it needed to have been. "er indoors TM" came home; her beano with the other candlemongers had been cancelled so we watched a film
which wasn't entirely lame. |
|
7 January 2016 (Thursday)
– Littlestone
Having had two good nights
sleep was it really that surprising to find myself wide awake and listening
to the rain from 3pm onwards today? Over brekkie I saw I had a friend request on Facebook.
If any of my loyal readers could remind me from where I know Ivy Repollo Caruyan (who seems
to be a schoolchild from the Philippenes) I
would be very grateful. Also over brekkie my laptop had a low battery
warning. It looks like the cable which powers the thing has gone west. I have
temporarily blagged the one that "er indoors TM" uses. I wonder how
long I will get away with that. I then phoned "Daddies
Little Angel TM" to postpone our walk until after the
rain had stopped. There is no fun in going out just to get wet. And then
finding myself at a loose end for a while I watched the last episode of "Tripped". A good series;
I hope they make another. Once the rain had subsided I loaded the dogs into
the car and drove round to collect "Daddies
Little Angel TM" and "Stormageddon - Bringer of Destruction TM".
The most recent fruit of my loin wanted to take the dogs for a walk; I
had a space on my geo-calendar to fill. So we drove down to Littlestone Beach where everyone could be happy. We parked up outside of a house which I can only
describe as looking like the sort of place where Herman Munster or Gomez
Addams might live. As we got the buggy and dogs and littlun
out of the car I sensed we were being watched. A rather ferocious-looking
crone was watching us from this house with the sort of expression with which
a hungry dog might use to view a distant bone. In a spirit of friendliness
"Daddies Little Angel TM"
gave this crone a cheery wave. Said crone was not at all happy about that. We walked off along the sea wall; as we started
walking the sun came out and it was a surprisingly warm day. The dogs
sniffled as dogs do, I took a few
photos whilst we walked. I tried to encourage the dogs into the sea. Fudge
played, but Sid wasn't keen. As we walked we chatted with other dog walkers;
we met a pair of black pugs and spent quite a while "talking pug". Having walked the length of the golf course we
noticed it was getting colder and the sky was darkening so we turned round
and walked back to the car. We got back just as the drizzle started, and as
we drove home so the rain got heavier. Once home bboth dogs
settled on sofas and within minutes both were soundly snoring as I found
myself engrossed in an episode of "Only Fools and Horses"
which was first aired over thirty years ago. Mind you despite its age and
despite my having seen it so many times it was still funny. Jimbo called round and we went out to Wye. The idea was to have a crafty
half in the
Barber's Arms. It would have been a good idea had the place actually been
open. Instead we had a pint in the King's Head and two halves at the Tickled
Trout before going to McDonalds. And suitably McDonalded
we went on to the astro club committee meeting. A good meeting; always something of a laugh to be
had. Plans for the future made, and we've even decided on another committee
meeting in the not too distant future... |
|
8 January 2016
(Friday) - A Dog(fish) on Sandgate Beach
I slept for quite a long time last night, but I can't say I slept
well. Much of my night was spent wrapped up in a rather disturbing dream
about trying to organise a public event in London
the most important part of which was ensuring that everyone got their
payments refunded because the event was doomed to failure before we'd even
started taking money. Pretty much everyone I've ever met was in a queue
wanting thirty quid from me (even though they'd not paid out anything)
and for some inexplicable reason I was the only person who could see how daft
this was. I woke shortly after 7am feeling frankly exhausted. Over brekkie I sparked up my laptop (still plugged in to "er indoors TM" 's
charger). It immediately wanted to be turned off again as part of some updating
process. After ten minutes of farting about it announced that the update had
failed; it had encountered some problem with Internet Explorer. Does *anyone*
still use Internet Explorer? I don't. Pretty much nothing had happened on social media. And I was surprised
at how llittle interest my compilation of last years
blog pictures had aroused on You-Tube. I saw a new geocache had gone live about a mile or so from work. My
immediate thought was that the First to Find would have long since been
claimed before my night shift. But caches near work will be very useful if I
am going to fill in this calendar challenge thingy. I'm quite glad that new
caches are appearing; a couple of years ago I would get a notification pretty
much every day about a new one having appeared but now I seem to get maybe
only one or two a week. I got the leads onto the dogs and pausing only briefly to chat with
the geocachers in the front garden we set off to
collect "Daddies Little Angel TM"
and "Stormageddon - Bringer of
Destruction TM". We drove down to Hythe
and had a little walk. The plan was to go along the beach; we had to cut our
walk short because of the biting wind. Mind you whilst out we did get covered
in mud, found lots of other dogs and nearly had an incident with a dead
dogfish. I took
a few photos whilst we were out. I do that. Once home "Daddies Little
Angel TM" boiled up some toast and gave it to "Stormageddon - Bringer of Destruction TM"
who then smeared it everywhere before tormenting the dogs with what was
left. They both then set off on their missions (taking Sid with them).
Being on a night shift I then went to bed for the afternoon. For some reason
"Furry Face TM" didn't take the opportunity to
come up and sleep at the end of the bed; having been woen
by an unwanted phone call from "Chase Alexander" I came down
after a few hours to find him sulking on the sofa. Clearly he's wanted to go
out with everyone else. Shortly after I got up "Daddies
Little Angel TM" brought Sid home "quietly";
I'd forgotten just how "silent" she can be. I'm just watching the episode of Upstairs Downstairs in which Miss
Georgina runs down some poor deaf bloke and then I'm off to the night
shift.... |
|
9 January 2016
(Saturday) - Bit Tired
Over the last year I've been quite vocal about how I
like the working pattern when I'm on nights. I like having large amounts of
time off work, and I do like the independence that lone working gives me. I
can listen to whatever drivel on the radio or on You-Tube I like as I work
and no one complains. Ideally I wouldn't have to work at all, but all the
time I am working, this isn't a bad way to do it. Having said that I do find wondering if a twelve and
a half hour overnight shift is realistically a younger man's game; last night
was rather busy. After driving home after a night shift I was certainly good
for nothing but a good kip. I got home to find "er
indoors TM" and Lacey were both playing with the "My
Little Pony" drawing app on their tablets. They then went on to the
morning cinema as I tried to sleep. "Tried" being the
operative word. We were looking after Lacey's dog Rolo as well as Lacey and as I tried to sleep there were
three dogs downstairs who kept finding things at which they could bark. There is a dominance thing going on between Rolo and Fudge. Despite being half his size, Rolo is top dog over Fudge and keeps telling him. I feel
sorry for Sid who is quite clearly bottom of the great pecking order. After I'd had a kip and the girls had returned we
drove out to the American Diner for burgers and chips and all day breakfasts
and omelettes and bubble gum milk shake. Very
tasty. As we were in the area we popped into Bybrook
Barn; Fudge needed a new comb. Whilst we were there I got a bargain. I've
been after a wine decanter for ages; they had some reduced from sixteen quid
to four quid. We then came home and took the dogs for a walk, and
with hounds walked Cheryl arrived and took Lacey off to visit other
grandparents. I then had a cuppa and a
hot cross bun. Actually a cold cross bun; I prefer them raw. I had an email. An admin detail about the astro club, but it was in pdf format. My laptop has
serious issues withpdfs. Whenever it tries to open
them I get an error saying that WIndows 10 can't
locate the relevent file. So I updated the reader
and got the same problem. So I got another reader and still had the same
problem. I then deleted all the pdf readers and... I *was* going to
re-install but having nipped off for a tiddle I
forgot that I hadn't re-installed them. I clicked on the pdf file and it
opened perfectly in the web browser. Why couldn't it have done that in the
first place? With "er indoors TM"
off film-night-ing I programmed "Hannah",
my phone and my tablet for tomorrow's geo-mission as I listened to the rain.
Although the forecast says the rain will stop, it is going to be very wet. I
watched the first episode of
"Jericho" which looks as thought
it might have promise, and then watched a little "Doctor Who". I think I shall have an early night; I've had guts
ache for the last few days. It is becoming a little wearing now... |
|
10 January 2016
(Sunday) – Hextable
Over brekkie I read something on social media which wound me up a
little. Some friends are getting involved in running a "charity"
event which will be raising money for a local hospital. Having raised an
absolute fortune for their hospital, a cheque will
then be presented to sone fat cat in a suit who
will be smiling because he realises his six figure
salary is now secure for a little longer. I *really* wish people
wouldn't do that. People are so quick to complain about the cuts made to the
budgets of schools and hospitals, and then they make those very cuts possible
by subsidising the shortfall. No governments of any
political party is *ever* going to fund public services (such as
hospitals and schools) properly all the time they know that the public
are going to fund it for them. There are plenty of charities that need money that aren't given
anything by the government that need our help. Perhaps it is ones like the RNIB or Shelter or Crisis at Christmas that we should be
supporting. As we scoffed brekkie we listened to the rain. We vaguely wondered if
cancelling our plans might have been the sensible thing to do, but we rarely
do sensible. So we carried on and in retrospect we did the right thing. One
of our number had to cry off, but (taking ten minutes less than Google
Maps had predicted) eight of us (and three small dogs) met up in Hextable to go hunt those elusive sandwich boxes. There
was a minor hiccup in that having walked a quarter of a mile I realised I'd left the rucksack behind. Bearing in mind
lunch was in it I nipped back to the car with some urgency. And on the way
back just as I caught up with the rest of the team the elastic in my undercrackers threw in the sponge. I must admit that as I
walked I wondered how many people just suffer in silence when their elastic
goes. I don't. But despite having to continually hoik up my
pants we had a really good walk. We'd gone off hunting a series of caches
based on the solar system; I'd actually solved the puzzles several months
ago. Perhaps I should have gone out and walked this series at that time.
Since solving the puzzles two of the hides had been archived, and several of
those remaining were just a little in need of a little tender loving care.
Perhaps the two archived ones had been pivotal in waymarking
the route; we did seem to have rather a lot of to-ing and fro-ing as we went
- there's no denying I was grateful to be able to use the decent map on my
tablet again. But after all is said and done there was a series of caches out there
that gave us a guided walk. For that I was grateful. As we walked we saw parakeets; they seem to be quite endemic in many
parts of Kent. And the daffodils were in bloom. In January
!! And talking of wildlife I feel I must say how impressed I was with
Sid. For all that pugs can be delicate little blossoms,
Sid kept up all the way and wasn't at all fazed by the mud. I wondered if I
would end up carrying him; he held his own. We'd set off in search of seventeen geo-targets; we found them all over
the course of five miles; however there is no denying that we were rather
grateful for the couple of hints we'd had from friends who'd walked in the
area last weekend. After a spot of lunch we made our way back to the cars,
said goodye to Aleta and
drove up to the Ship. Hextable is renown for being a village with
no pubs but there was a pub not too far away. Ideally we would have walked more in the afternoon, but the weather
had (to that point) been *exactly* as forecast. Heavy rain
until mid-morning then a really bright day until early afternoon when heavy
rain would return. Having reached the early afternoon stage we didn't want to
tempt fate, and as we started the second pint so the thunder and lightning
started. I went for a tiddle and got a fit of the
giggles. Every month Viz magazine has an update to
its profanisaurus. This month had a new phrase:
"Cubicle Clown". A "Cubicle Clown" is a
person in the lavatory cubicle whose lavatorial
noises sound as though he/she/it is making balloon animals in their cubicle.
As I tiddled there was a real-life "Cubicle
Clown" in full flow behind me. I took a few
photos as we walked. Once home I popped them on-line and had a look at simular photos from other friends who had been out
geocaching in other parts of the county today. As "er indoors TM"
set off bowling I spent a little while messing about with GSAK
(the prgram I use to do my geo-admin). It crashed
earlier in the evening which worried me a little. I find the thing rather
useful and the crash was a little worrying. It seems to be working now, but
will only work with my GPS unit. If only I could figure out what my phone or tablet do with the fieldnotes.txt
file... |
|
11 January 2016
(Monday) - David Bowie Died
Being back on to "routine hours" shifts I woke ten
minutes before my alarm this morning; some two hours earlier than I've been
waking for this last fortnight. It is odd how the body clock adjusts. Over brekkie I watched an episode of "Dad's Army"
that I haven't seen before. It was quite sad really; Captain Mainwaring had a
love interest. However for light entertainment Corporal Jones was carrying on
with Mrs Prosser. Corporal Jones was quite
entertaining for once; probably because he wasn't shouting about not liking
it up 'em. As I watched telly I had a Patagonian Tripe
Hound sleeping on my left and a pug sleeping on my right. Soppy dogs. Despite the ongoing stomach ache I set off to work on a dark wet morning.
The pundits on the radio were presenting an article about the sad state of
the international Anglican church. Today the Archbishop of Canterbury was to
be presiding over a major
meeting of church leaders in Canterbury. One half of the world's
Anglicans want to modernise their philosophies and
teachings (and throw away the Bible); the other half want to stick
with what the church is actually all about. There was a very interesting interview with the Archbishop of
Canterbury on the radio in which he blathered
meaningless platitudes to every single question that was put to him, but the
interview was rudely and suddenly cut short by the news that David Bowie had
died. And that was the news for the rest of the drive to work. An
interview with the Leader of the Opposition was also curtailed because David
Bowie had died. I got to work and did what I had to amid speculation that were I a
girl I would be *very* high maintenance. I took that as a compliment. As I drove home I turned on the radio. Normally I listen to the
evening's news and current affairs show as I drive home. Tonight there was no news or current affairs. Instead there was forty
five minutes of various celebrities, has-beens and vacuous windbags queuing
up to say how much they loved David Bowie. I got home to find social media simularly
filled with postings from the apparently grieving and heartbroken. Don't get me wrong; I've nothing against the chap, but (as I
intimated last week) why do so many people wait for a celebrity to die
before they actually show any interest in said celebrity? I suppose that (if nothing else) his death has de-railed the Lemmy bandwagon... |
|
12 January 2016
(Tuesday) - Guts Ache
A good night's sleep; waking only a minute or so
before the alarm. I got up to find that overnight a whole load of laundry had
arrived in the basket from "Daddies
Little Angel TM" and "Stormageddon
- Bringer of Destruction TM" so I set that to scrub as I
watched the latest drivel I've recorded on the SkyPlus
box. Twenty years ago "Sorry !" (starring
Ronnie Corbett) was
hilarious. It hasn't really stood the test of time. As I watched telly and
scoffed brekkie I was conscious of the ongoing nagging pain in my stomach;
I've not felt right for a week or so. I'm sure it is nothing that a good
"quack" wouldn't cure, but it is uncomfortable. And so to work, feeling rather uncomfortable. As I
drove to work there was talk on the radio about
opinion polls and how they generally seem not to be as reliable as one
might hope. A good example of this was the last General Election in which the
polls showed no difference in the public's opinion between the Labour and Conservative parties when in fact the majority
had clearly been pro-Tory. There was concern expressed that opinion polls
must be right for the democratic process to work. The pundits pointed out
that there are a *lot* of people whose opinion actually depends on the
result of the opinion poll. Having no opinion of their own, many people (lemming-like)
go with what they think is the feeling of the majority. And these people feel
cheated if it what they thought was the majority view turns out not to have
been so. This sounds daft, but after every election I lose count of people
who complain about having wasted their vote because they voted for a losing
candidate. For many people expressing their own view is very much secondary to
being seen to be on the winning side. This *really* bothers me; not that I beleive in democracy, but I would have thought democracy
was all about the Great Unwashed actually educating themselves and forming a
considered opinion on the matters in question. But (as I often ask)
what do I know? After all my opinion is usually that of a very small
minority. Perhaps I should try following the masses; I might
get into less arguments. Once at work I struggled to keep myself occupied;
the junior
doctors were all on strike today and consequently my reduced workload was
something of a knock-on effect of said strike. With not much going on I spent
much of the day complaining about my stomach ache to anyone who would listen.
And as the day wore on the list of people who would listen grew shorter and
shorter. If the doctors weren't all on strike I might have popped down to the
emergency care centre and got myself told to take some guts ache tablets. With little else on the agenda I looked at the leave
diary and my shift patterns and booked some time off in May. Possibly a
mid-week break, possibly some days out? Probably five days watching the telly and sulking. Who knows? I came home (still feeling bloated) to find "er indoors TM" was already home. We
took both dogs for a short walk then after a rather good bit of dinner Martin
arrived and he and "er indoors TM"
went off to the Tuesday gathering. I stayed at home this evening; ongoing
guts ache had been tiring. I slobbed in front of the telly and then I had a message. Last night I spent a
couple of hours struggling to solve a geo-puzzle. After struggling to no
avail I finally enlisted the help of friends. This evening the answer
arrived. I had been on the right lines; I had all but solved the puzzle.
However to get the final part of the correct answer it had been necessary to
perform the sum 4+1+1. Despite (or because of) my degree in
mathematics I had made the answer to be five. Woops. As luck would have it, Stargazing Live was on
BBC2 this evening. Not having been impressed with last year's efforts from
the BBC the astro club had decided not to take part
in this event this year. I was glad we hadn't; the show was utter tripe. I'm off to bed now. My stomach still aches.... |
|
13 January 2016
(Wednesday) - Bit Dull
I slept for eight hours before finally waking to find that not only
were my guts still tender but the tennis elbow seems to have returned. Over brekkie I had a look-see on-line. Little had happened overnight,
and perhaps the only thing of note was a hint I'd received about a geo-puzzle which has had me
foxed for some time. Mind you one of the disadvantages of email and soicial media and instant communication is the amount of
spam emails and adverts with which we find ourselves bombarded. In years gone
by I used to get adverts about the services offered by ladies of dubious
morals. Just recently I seem to be getting more and more adverts for church management software
solutions. Why on Earth would I want to buy a church management software
solution? As I scoffed my toast a new posting popped up on my laptop screen. A
chap I met through geocaching had been out doing a little astro-photography.
I suggested he might be interested in joining the astro
club. He had no idea that one existed locally and was immediately keen on the
idea. The astro club makes quite a bit of effort
to advertise its existance, and still we aren't
getting to the people who would want to join. I also saw that today was National Rubber
Ducky Day. Rubber ducky day.... who makes these
things up? And how much do they get paid for doing so? Having a little time on my hands I hought I
might take the dogs for a walk. Fudge was raring to go; Sid ran and hid. But
they both went round the park with me. As we walked we heard woodpeckers;
rather early in the year for woodpeckers I thought. We also heard what I can
only describe as a large dog losing a fight with a duck; there was very loud
pitiful barking and whining and very aggressive quacking. I decided against
walking in the direction from where that sound was emanating. We also saw joggers. Some were typical joggers; one caught my eye. this young lady had the most skimpiest skin-tight lycra jogging bikini and might was well have been running
stark naked for all that it covered. I would have thought that such attire
was a little chilly for this time of year, but it brightened up an otherwise
dull morning. The rest of the day was rather dull in comparison... |
|
14 January 2016
(Thursday) - Coffee and Cake
I didn't sleep well last night. I was awake for an hour or so in the
small hours listening to the torrential rain. I finally dozed off only to be
plagued by nightmares in which the kite-flying fraternity had declared war on
the geocachers. It was all rather nasty and the Prime
Minister had asked me to intervene because I have something of a foot in both
camps. However both sides saw me as a traitor and it was with some releif that I was woken by a nuisance phone call just
after 7am. This call was from a new number; 001019, and when I answered it no one
was on the other end. I say this was a "new" number; it is
new to me. The number was well known on the "report your nuisance
phone calls" web sites. I keep being told about how I can avoid
these calls but it doesn't seem to matter what I do, someone from India
always seems to be bothering my phone. I took the dogs round the corner to where "Daddies
Little Angel TM" and "Stormageddon
- Bringer of Destruction TM" are now living. And having
collected them we went for a rather uneventful walk round the park. There is
no denying I was hoping to see the (nearly) nudey
jogger we encountered yesterday. She was nowhere to be seen, Probably
suffering from hypothermia and frostbite I expect. As I drove to work there was an article on the radio about the Cassini
probe which is currently orbiting Saturn. Perhaps because I know a thing or
two about space my expectations of the show were a little higher than the
might have been. But anything space-related on the radio or the telly always seems to be very dumb-ed
down to me. This show could have been so much better - did the presenter *really*
think Saturn has a rocky surface? I was taking a rather round-the-houses route to work today as I needed
to find at least one geocache for this calendar thingy. I had my sights set
on one in Sellindge; I eventually found it buried
under some mud. Something had churned up the ground nearby. I then drove on listening to an interview with the partner of Ricky
Gervais. She was quite an interesting woman. The interview ended just as I
was approaching a garden centre so I popped in for coffee and cake. there is something quite therapeutic in sitting alone in a
garden centre cafe with a cuppa watching the world
go by. Whilst I was there I got myself a rubber duck. I needed a duck for geocachical purposes. I also need a brick too. I shall
try to blag one from somewhere. I got to work a little earlier than I needed to, and having driven
round a very full cark park several times I eventually found an empty spot in
which I parked my car. The only empty spot. Having parked I sat and listened
to the radio for a few minutes until my peace was rudely interrupted by some
silly old sod (wearing a rather stupid hat). He demanded that I drove
away; if I was only going to sit in my car I could sit anywhere; he wanted to
park his car. I politely pointed out that I was in the staff parking area and in
order to get there he had driven past two signs saying "Staff Only".
He rudely announced that he wasn't going to pay to use the public car park
when he could park for free in the staff car park, and bustled off
threatening to report me for parking my car in a car park for which I pay to
park. I hope he doesn't report me; I know that if he does I will be in the
wrong for parking my car in a car park for which I pay to park. And so the excitement of my day was all over by 11.30am. All things
considered another dull day really... |
|
15 January 2016
(Friday) - A Retirement
The morning's haul of emails brough
one from LinkedIn asking of I knew Callum Moffatt,
Julie Hayes or Suzanne Foreman. The simple answer is "No".
LinkedIn is rubbish. Supposedly about professional networking, I find it
tries to connect me with people I don't know, and on that website people I
barely know are commending me for skills I don't have. As I drove to work there were some amazing figures
being banded about on the radio. It is no secret
that should I get squished in a car crash or some other such tragedy then I
would like any and all salvageable organs to be offered up for transplants to
anyone who might use them. Thousands of other people feel the same way and
have registered such an intention. However forty per cent of such people
don't have their wishes honoured. It turns out that
their grieving families say no to allowing organs to
be used. Over a thousand organs that could be used are wasted every year in
this way. If my nearest and dearest refuse any of my bits to
be used (should I get scrunched) I will come back and haunt them!! And then the Minister for Health was interviewed on
the radio. He was outlining the changes he would like to see in the NHS. One
of the changes he would like would be for hospital doctors to be able to get
urgent blood tests done at the weekend. My piss boiled. What does he think I do for a living? I was under
the impression that I was already providing that service when I work
weekends... I can only imagine that he doesn't realise
that this is already happening. And presumably he is making policy decisions
being utterly oblivious of what is actually happening in hospitals.... I find
that a little worrying. I got to work, we all speculated about not having to
work weekends any more, and then had something of a sad day. A colleague was
retiring today. Trev's been really great to work with, and today was
the last day. After work there was a meal in his honour. Everyone else went home first, but I didn't. I
had a little bus adventure into Canterbury. I thought one pound fifty was a
tad steep for a minute's ride but it was fun. I found a little back street
pub where I had a pint of stout whilst checking the place out for a future
pub crawl. The New Inn was quite a good place to visit; might just go back. I then made my way to the meeting place; as I walked
I found a pub call the the Jolly Sailor which
claimed to be an ale house. It lied. It was a lager house. So I walked on to
Parrots where I met someone with whom I'd worked five years ago. We had a
drink, then another, then more old friends arrived. As usual it was too late when I realised
the mistake of having had three pints of stout before everyone else gets to
the pub, but I certainly had a good evening. I think Trev did too... I even took
a few photos whilst I was out and about. Some are a bit blurred; just
like my memories of the evening. |
|
16 January 2016
(Saturday) - Geo-Meet
I felt decidedly grim as I scoffed my toast this morning. Can't
imagine why ! My little dog seemed to realise that I was
under the weather; he sat with me and generally looked soppy. As I scoffed I
found myself reflecting on Trev's retirement yesterday. When I started
working for the NHS (all those years ago) I was told very clearly that
if I joined the pension scheme I could retire on full pension (i.e. half
pay) after forty years service. That would be
on 14 September 2021 which now isn't that far away. A week or so later I was told that a mistake had been made; I wouldn't
actually start paying pension until my eighteenth birthday and so retirement
was put back until 21 February 2022. Having spent several year planning to retire
when I would be fifty-eight I was rather miffed to find that somewhere along
the way one or other government had changed the rules and I wouldn't get a
full pension until I was sixty. I whinged to the
pension office and was told in no uncertan terms
that I had effectively been done out of two years of pension contributions,
and to suck it up. So I stopped whinging and sucked it up. The rules have changed again. I dare not consult them.I
suspect that far from only having six years to go (which was what was
promised) I probably have closer to fifteen years of working left to do.
I hope that is not the case. I *really* should start looking into the matter. As I sat feeling sorry for myself I had an email. There is a
geo-puzzle which has had me foxed for a few days. I won't say which one it is
but I will say that I had figured out that the puzzle was about the Spice
Girls and Geri Halliwell. With this in mind I spent
hours struggling with their birthdays and chart positions of their records
but had been unable to solve the puzzle. So a day or so ago I did the only
thing which was left open to me. I looked at the list of people who had found
that geocache and emailed the one who I thought was most likely to take pity
on me. It turns out that the puzzle wasn't about the Spice Girls at all; it
was about telephones. Sometimes I hate trying to solve cryptic puzzles. "er indoors TM" and I then drove out to Wingham
for the monthly meeting of the Kent chapter of the Hunters of Tupperware. It
was good to meet up with friends, but I must admit that the attendance was
perhaps a little less than it might have been. But we had a rather good spot
of lunch, and a good chat with friends. And after the walk we had a little
stroll round the village. It was a good afternoon for a walk; even if it was
a little cold. We came home via the hospital to collect my car; I'd left it there
last night. Once home we took the dogs round the park. Again it was still a
good afternoon for a walk, but again it was cold. "er indoors TM" set off to whatever it is that she was doing
this evening, and I ironed shirts then settled down in front of the telly with my wolf pack. Rather a dull Saturday night,
but after a hectic night last night and a rather busy day today I felt that I
needed a rest... |
|
17 January 2016
(Sunday) - Lazy Day
One of the many depressing things about getting
older is the increasing need for trips to the loo in the middle of the night.
Until we got our most recent house guest I wouldn't turn on any of the lights
in the house as I made my way to "Trap One"; now I dare not
walk in the dark. I was right to turn the lights on last night; there was a
turd right in the way. Whilst I can't be sure which of the wolf pack dropped
it I have my suspicions. I couldn't get back to sleep after that. Despite my
CPAP machine's best efforts I couldn't breathe, and I lay awake until 6.30am when
"er indoors TM"s alarm went off. She was
on an away-day with the candle-mongers and I got up shortly after she did. At
least when being up I could actually breathe. Over brekkie I read an article on the South
Ashford Community Forum Facebook group. There are plans afoot to develop
some local wasteland. This will involve building over six hundred new homes
and some shops and a parking area and stuff. The plans are to build on land
which has been left derelict for over ten years. It is a
good plan too breathe new life into an
eyesore. However there are objections from locals. Victoria
Road School is not that far away, and some people really do seem to think
that building homes in the general area of a school will attract paedophiles. So (according to these stupid people)
the obvious answer to this potential problem is not to put windows on the
sides of these buildings that face the school. You really couldn’t make this up. Many of the
children who go to this school walk past my house in the morning. Presumably
I should keep the curtains pulled until 9am in case I see a child and am
gripped by unholy urges? "Daddies
Little Angel TM" and "Stormageddon
- Bringer of Destruction TM" came round. We drove down to
Tenterden for a little walk. Normally on a Sunday I
would go for a really big walk, but a combination of "er indoors TM" being off doing her
thing and a *really* cold day made me opt for something of a lazy day
today. We needed to walk the dogs, so I though once up and down Tenterden High Street would fit the bill. As we walked
"Daddies Little Angel TM"
ranted about the futility of fish as pets, and we went into "The
Secret Pantry" for coffee and cake. They gave us some warm milk for "Stormageddon - Bringer of Destruction TM;
I'm not quite sure how he managed it but he nearly drowned in the stuff.
Whilst our coffee was acceptable, the cake was rather crap. Neither of us was
sure what flavour it was supposed to be. But we
were sure that whatever flavour
the cake was supposed to be, it didn't taste of it. Two slices of rather
rubbish cake and a nearly drowned baby cost over eight quid. I shan't be
going there again. As we walked I found one geocache (today was a
calendar day) and failed to find two others. "Daddies
Little Angel TM" claimed she saw snow
flakes; I didn't but it was certainly cold enough for them. We came home, and being "home alone"
I got myself some KFC as a treat and (having devoured it) fell asleep
in front of the telly for much of the afternoon;
waking only to deal with the demands of the washing machine and dishwasher.
"You Only Live Twice" gave way to "Bicentennial
Man" and was followed by "War and Peace"; I slept through
the lot. Much as I quite liked my lazy day I couldn't do it
that often - I'd go stir crazy. |
|
18 January 2016
(Monday) - Bill and Wombles
Every night as I sleep I have air blasted into me
from my CPAP machine. It takes the device a few minutes to settle and get the
pressure right when it starts; as it does so I read my Kindle app. Last night
I finished an e-book. The first volume of Alexei Sayle's
autobiography made for very interesting reading even if it did only cover his
childhood. I'm looking forward to the next volume which is to be published in
a few months time. Over brekkie I wondered what book I might read next. Six years ago I published a list of my top
twenty books. It is a list I might re-visit. Over the years I have read
all of these books so many times. However until now one has not been
available in e-format. But this morning I found it on Amazon. I can remember
really enjoying "Earth
Abides"; let's hope it is as good as I remember it. As I drove to work the pundits on the radio were
quoting some rather amazing statistics. Apparently some twenty per cent of British
Muslim women don't speak English. Whilst this isn't news (I blogged
about it on 12 February 2007) surely this is a problem which should be
addressed. The pundits then wheeled on someone from the bleeding heart
brigade who ranted for a few minutes about how inaccurate these figures are.
He claimed the actual number of British Muslim women who don't speak English
is closer to six per cent. But what ever the actual
number the fact remains that there are thousands of women in this country who
don't speak the language. Surely that can't be right. I stopped off at Morrisons
this morning. Having been driving through the most beautiful of sunrises this
morning I had a plan to take a photo of the glorious red sky from Morrisons car park. By the time I'd got to Canterbury the
sky had lost its wonderful colours and was just
rather grey and drab. I got fruit for the week; I also got various
toiletries. (Sometimes my life can be so exciting). Mind you I was
rather amazed at the price of shaving gel. The posh stuff from Gilette retails at Ł3.86, the same amount of Morrison's
own-brand stuff costs eighty seven pence. I wonder exactly who it is that buys the Gillette
stuff? I got to work where there was minor excitement.
Today we got to log on to the works free wi-fi for
our own personal use. It is a little perk which will be available all the
time it is not abused. We spent a little while speculating on what
constitutes abuse of a wi-fi system. One of the
more senior members of staff (who really should know better) assured
us that the works wi-fi was good for most things
but womble porn would be crossing the line. No one was brave enough to try to look up womble porn to test that hypothesis. Once home I ran the dogs round the world and then
had a look on-line. There is a meme going round at the moment about being like Bill.
A growing number of people are getting quite upset with Bill. Personally I
don't mind the chap. But if we are getting rid of things from social media
I'd rather see a few less hashtags. I then settled myself in front of the telly. Gotham is on later... |
|
19 January 2016
(Tuesday) - This N That
I slept like a log last night. I woke wonderfully refreshed and raring
to go... at 1.20am. I then saw every hour of the rest of the night; finally
giving up and getting up just before 6am. I watched Ronnie Corbett in "Sorry"
over brekkie then had a look-see on line. Over brekkie I saw some johnny-come-lately
had posted on the Geocaching in Kent group rudely dismissing a cache walk in
the Greenhill area. Apparently he felt the roads in the area were dangerous.
Having walked the route myself my route didn't use much road at all; and I
though the *footpaths* that the route followed were quite scenic. The trouble with hunting Tupperware as a hobby is that (if done
properly) it does pre-suppose a little knowledge with map and compass and
of the Great Outdoors. A surprising number of people have never heard of
footpaths, and it is amazing how many people buy a GPS unit from eBay and
then follow it in a straight line regardless of what is in their way when
walking that straight line. I made a gentle comment that I'd had no problem with the route in
question and thought no more about it.... "Furry Face TM" scrounged some toast
whilst I gave him a good brushing. He likes that. He came upstairs with me
when I went to get dressed; I noticed that he hesitated before running up the
stairs. Is his back still hurting him? I had a little scraping of ice to do on my car this morning. As I
drove I seemed to (as usual) be in the minority. Today the minority
was in ice scraping. I'd shifted the ice from all the windows of my car so I
could see all round. Most other people had merely
cleared part of the drivers
side of the windscreen so they could see directly in front of them. As I drove the pundits were discussing something
I mentioned last week. Last year the pollsters had predicted the election
results wrongly. Today they explained the reason for their failings; they
hadn't asked the right cross section of the electorate and had polled too
many people who claimed they were going to vote Labour
(!) Dur !! Bearing in mind I can use the works wi-fi I
had a look-see on Facebook at tea time. The know-it-all who had been so rude
on the geocaching site earlier had replied to my comment saying that I was
wrong and he was right. I've had dealings with this fellow before; I thought
of replying to him, but decided against it. It is generally not good form to
be voted "Geocacher of the Year"
and then start publically calling people rude names. Even when they've done
their best to remove all possible doubt on the matter. Mind you as the day wore on I had a few private messages thanking me
for standing up in defence of the Grenhill loop. I got the distinct impression that several
other people have had run-ins with this newbie before. With work done I came home and walked the dogs round the roads. It was
a cold evening but "Furry Face TM" was keen. Sid
wasn't quite as up for it. And with dogs walked and tea scoffed we set off to
Folkestone for the Tuesday gathering. new front door, sweeties to scoff, Star Trek on the telly... it was a shame to come home to find turds on the
carpet. |
|
20 January 2016
(Wednesday) – Inequalities
Having gotten into the habit of expecting to be waking constantly all
night long it was with something of a shock that I looked at the clock for
the first time last night only to see it was two minutes until alarm time. I leapt into action, and over brekkie watched Ronnie Corbett in
"Sorry". He was having trouble with Muffin the Mule, and was also
trying his luck with the delectable Fenalla. Then,
having taken an injured duck to church he then had a mishap with an
inflatable dinosaur. (Comedy was different when the show was made in the
1980s!) I scraped the ice off of my car, set off to work, and stopped after
fifty yards to scrape again. An air temperature of minus seven degrees had
once more frozen the windscreen. Whilst I realise
that minus seven degrees is positively balmy to some, to me it isn't that
warm. Being a "calendar day" I drove to Sellindge
in search of Tupperware. After one failure I tracked a sandwich box down. It
had been lurking near the doctors' surgery. Previous finders had complained
the contents had been wet. I had no such issues; I found them to be frozen
solid. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the latest
scandal; the inequality between men
and women's shopping. Designer jeans of the same brand, waist and leg
size can cost women fifty per cent more than they cost men. Women's
disposable razors cost double the price of men's and the only difference is
the colour of the plastic. Some consumer rights
guru was wheeled on and he said that this has been going on for years; it is
(apparently) no secret that women are prepared to spend more when
shopping than men are. The pundits rightly accused this chap of being sexist;
he didn't deny it. But he maintained his position. He even cited the very
price disparities as evidence to prove his point. I got to work and as the day wore on I received orders from "Daddies Little Angel TM".
She'd bought a sofa. And so once work was done I came home via a fifty-mile
detour to collect the thing from Rochester. Once home the first thing I did once home was to walk the dogs. Whilst
Sid could quite happily live without it, Fudge couldn't. He is quite
fractious if not walked. As we walked we had what can only be described as a near-miss event.
Suddenly and without warning "Furry Face TM"
darted at a parked car. I caught him almost instantly, but a car coming down
the road toward us stopped immediately with a loud screech of brakes, and I
saw a cat running off into the distance. The driver of the car didn't seem to
notice me or the one who'd made that cat run out. Whilst no harm was done the
cat could have been flattened. Part of me felt a little guilty about the
episode, but chasing cats is the terrier's nature. And (am I wrong here?)
should cats *really* be out on a main road when the temperature is well below
zero? Being home a lot later than planned we had a quick dinner (KFC)
and watched a few episodes of "Benidorm"; I'd not seen it before; it was
excellent. |
|
21 January 2016
(Thursday) - A Few Whinges
Anyone who knows me will know I have a tattoo or two on me. I quite
like the things... or to qualify that somewhat I quite like the things when
they are done well. Over brekkie I saw an on-line photo of a tattoo which a
friend has recently had done. Oh dear. How do you tell someone their tattoo is frankly awful? This one looks
as though a child has scrawled it. A tattoo gun is a precision instrument,
not a toy. I also saw the above meme on social media (I've censored it
somewhat). It made me think. I consider myself to be an easy-going
person, but the above is very true of me - it takes a while to get my back
up, but once I decide against someone then I absolutely detest that person. Having said that there isn't many people that
I don't like. I spent much of the day compiling a mental list of those
people. I won't publish it here, but suffice to say the list doesn't run into
double figures. Nearly half of those people are ones with whom I've not had
any dealings for years, and of the remainder most are people I've only ever
encountered on-line and have never actually met in person. Having scraped the ice off of my car this morning I set off to work. I
kept worrying myself by glancing in the driver's mirror only to be unable to
see anything because of "Daddies
Little Angel TM"'s
sofa which has taken up residence in my car. I am told it won't be there for
long. As I drove my piss boiled somewhat. The results of
the inquiry into the poisoning of Alexander Litvenenko was published today. Having been
poisoned with radioactive polonium in 2006 it has only taken ten years for
the authorities to investigate the matter. There was also consternation at leaks about an inquiry into what the
late Jimmy
Saville did or didn't do at the BBC many years ago. These are yet more examples of what is wrong with British justice; how
can these things take so long? In my line of work an hour is an unacceptable
delay. I have trouble with a timescale of years rather than minutes. Our old friend Science was also back in the news having announced the
ever increasing likelihood of another
planet in our solar system. Reports of this planet put it at being
between four and ten times the size of Earth. That's quite a wide margin of
error. I got to work, and had a surprisingly busy day. But an early start
made for an early finish. I came home to chaos. In theory "Daddies Little Angel TM"
moves to her new home tomorrow. In preparation for this move she has lifted
all of her luggage from storage (in our spare bedroom and attic) and
put it where it would be more easily accessible when she loads the van
tomorrow. And having filled my living room with her clutter she's cleared off
leaving me unable to get through my own house. Some things never change... Today was a bit of a ranty day. Must stop
that... |
|
22 January 2016
(Friday) - Not Breaking my Back
An odd sensation; I was pleasently dozing,
drifting in and out of proper sleep (as one does) when "er indoors TM" alarm went off. At
that point I suddenly realised I had the most
excruciating pain in my back. Somehow I'd been ignoring it. I heaved myself up, and over brekkie had a look-see on-line. A new
geocache had gone live not far from work. Were I not on the late shift I
might have chased the First to Find. But it will come in handy as a calendar filler. Other emails included other hidden tupperware; requests for caches to be archived, requests
for me to finance home-made films, and ladies of dubious morals offering to
sell me carnal favours. I had half a mind to ask
just how much filth I would get for fifty pence, but thought better of the
idea. I suspect I would get more than I bargained for. And talking of getting more than I bargained for, a local pub is
offering a
belly-buster challenge. For fifteen quid you get a double bacon cheese
burger, three sausages, two eggs, two bacon rashers, chips, chilli beef, half a rack of BBQ ribs, mushrooms, onion
rings, garlic bread or plain baguette, and the choice of a pint draught or
soft drinks. If you scoff the lot you get it for half price. "My Boy TM"
is up for watching me having a go. Does anyone else fancy a trip to The Star? I took the dogs for a walk; we met "Daddies
Little Angel TM" on the way, and other than what I can
only describe as a "near miss" event with a Beagle the walk passed
off relatively well. We got home just as "My Boy TM"
was arriving with a huge van. I helped him park it, we got the sofa out of
the back of my car and into the van, and I then left everyone else loading up
the van whilst I went off to work. Ideally I would have helped "Daddies
Little Angel TM" move house today but I couldn't get the
leave. And I've already moved her several times over the last few months... As I drive to work the radio was spewing some serious drivel about how
women politician's careers are far more influenced by their dress sense than
by their political stances. Apparently they really do get more votes for
dressing smartly than for having sensible policies. And then there was an article about a problem in Peterborough where
infinity per cent of the Asian population are marrying their cousins and all
sorts of (until now) rare genetic diseases are becoming more and
more common. Apparently it is a cultural thing because marrying your
cousin makes for a more harmonious marriage. Ironically where this is endemic
in Pakistan they are well aware of the genetic problems and cousins have
genetic testing and counselling before having children. Not so here in the UK
though... I got to work for the late shift. As I arrived the rain was getting
heavier. Was it wrong of me to be glad that I was in the dry and not helping
move house today...? |
|
23 January 2016
(Saturday) - At The Theatre
I woke to the sound of paws. Sid was stomping about
at 4am. Bearing in mind his propensity for midnight pooping I got up to let
him out. As I got up he went back to bed. As I settled in my bed he got up
again. So I got up again and he went back to his bed. This carried on for an hour or so.... Over brekkie social media was somewhat depressing. A
friend who has had a rather grotty deal from life
found happiness a few years ago and moved away with her new husband. They had
a lovely little family, but this morning I saw that not only had they split
up but this chap who seemed such a fine fellow is now determined to ruin her
life. And several other friends have recently lost their
good friends to cancer. When I popped the lead onto "Furry Face TM"
in readiness for our walk he got very over excited. Like most dogs the walk
is the highlight of his day. Sid saw the lead and ran and hid; the walk isn't
in his top ten things to do. But despite Sid's protests both dogs came with
me for a quick walk round the block. It was a very foggy morning; probably
for the best. With visibility down to ten yards no one saw what I was doing
as I paused for a spot of geo-maintenance on one of my caches not far from
home. Once home I had a whinge
at the broadband provider. Our home broadband has been slow to the point of
being unusable for the last few days. The nice lady on the help desk fiddled
about for a bit and then asked why we'd put restrictions on the line. We
hadn't. She said that restrictions would slow the broadband, and if we were
happy for her to do so she would remove the restrictions. But it would take a
couple of hours. We left her removing restrictions and pausing only
briefly for "er indoors TM"
to break her phone we went round to collect Cheryl and Lacey, and then went
on to Maidstone Park & Ride where we met Glen
and Matt. I'd not done the Maidstone
Park & Ride before. A bus with wi-fi. Will
wonders never cease? The bus soon got us in to Maidstone
and it was only a short walk to the Hazlitt Theatre. Some time ago a good
friend had stuck a geocache on that building. It is a particularly good one.
I saw it straight away; but then I know what to look for. Thousands of people
must walk past it every day without noticing it. And with geo-stuff done we
went in to watch a show, I've seen "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat"
twice before. Once in Eastbourne back in the days
when I had religion (circa 1983) and once at the White Rock Theatre in
Hastings (about 1988). Today's show was excellent, but then I've now
seen six shows done by the Stage
Theatre Society and they have all been really good. Mind you every time
I've been to their shows the excellent efforts of the actors have been
undermined by the sound system, and it happened again today. They really do
need to have a word with whoever it is that turns the actors' microphones off
and on. After the show we took another wi-fi-enabled
bus back to the car and drove out to the Harvester at the Running Hourse Roundabout. I don't think I've actually been to a
Harvester before. I would certainly go again. Excellent food, decent bottled
ale (and staff who know how to serve it), and not overpriced either. And an added bonus was when we showed them Matt's
twenty per cent discount deal they gave us twenty five per cent off by
mistake. Once home I checked our broadband. It seems to be
working now. And with it working I then made a few plans for a geo-walk next
weekend. Bearing in mind it involves premium caches and a few puzzles it
probably isn't good form to open it up to absolutely everyone... but if any
of my loyal readers want to come for a walk next Sunday just drop me a line. I've had a really good day today... I feel exhausted
now. |
|
24 January 2016
(Sunday) - Family Get-Together
Yesterday started with depressing news. So did today. A friend's
mother died yesterday. She'd not been well for a few months and she passed
away yesterday. I found myself thinking about this particular death. I've known this
family for over forty years. They have always been particularly religious and
regular church-goers. Their religion specifically states that death is*not*
the end. Is their religion a comfort at times like this? Having been a
religious nut in my youth and having then "seen the darkness"
in retrospect I am surprised at just how many people don't get any comfort
from their so-called beleifs in the darkest hours. I spent a little while listening to the rain outside whilst solving
virtual geo-puzzles. Virtual geo-puzzles are incredibly rare; a series of the
things is even rarer. There is a series of seven in London; I solved six of
eight this morning and then I took Fudge round the block. Sid didn't want to
go so I left him behind. For all that he really should go for a walk I can't
help but feel that I'm in some way bullying him in forcing him out. With one dog walked "Daddies
Little Angel TM" and "Stormageddon
- Bringer of Destruction TM" arrived and they came with
me down to Hastings; "er indoors TM"
followed with Cheryl and Lacey. We were soon at the Hollington
Oak where the tribe gathered for a little celebration. It will be my Dad's
eightieth birthday in a day or so. An excellent meal with all the family together. And there are quite a
few of us I
took a few photos whilst we were out. We came home via Brittania Lane; "Daddies Little Angel TM"
wanted me to collect a table as we had the car handy. And then on to Beaver Court
for a microwave. We took them to her new flat (which is quite good)
and then drove out to the back of beyond to get a gas cooker. Having broken
our backs getting the gas cooker into the new flat we then filled the car
with most (but not all) of the rest of her stuff from the temporary
accommodation. I finally got to sit down in front of the telly
about four hours later than I had been planning. I shall iron my shirts
another time... |
|
25 January 2016
(Monday) – Busy
I slept right through until the alarm went off this morning. I suspect
carrying a gas cooker yesterday had taken its toll. Over brekkie I watched a
rather lame episode of Dad's Army in which Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant
Wilson openly hated and despised each other. The episode didn't really work; for any TV show, or radio show, or any
story really the characters have to be believable. To have the main
protagonists acting completely out of character purely for dramatic effect
just doesn't convey plausibility. I then had a look-see on-line. Yesterday posted up a few photos from
the family get-together. All sorts of people have clicked the "like"
button, including many people that I don't know. I suppose this is the power
and the problem with social media; you really don't realise
just how far the Internet spreads. I drove to work; from Kennington to Godmersham (about five miles) some twit was
driving about ten yards behind me. At the first opportunity he flew pas me
like a bat out of hell, and then started tail-ening
the car in front of me and carried on doing so for a further five miles.
Being unable to overtake anyone else he actually got to Canterbury about ten
seconds before I did. Perhaps I should have squealed him up to the police for deliberate
dangerous driving? As I drove my piss boiled as I listened to the radio. Some opinionated
windbag was ranting about what a waste of time it is prosecuting alleged paedophiles as they "always seem to get off".
Personally I would call it "being found not guilty", but
this woman wasn't happy. Apparently getting a conviction on an allegation of paedophilia is quite difficult (for all sorts of
reasons that I've ranted about ad-nauseum). So
it was being suggested that in such cases when witnesses have either died of
old age or can't remember the specific and precise details of what happened
forty years the law be changed. Rather than proving the accused was guilty it
was suggested that it would be sufficient to show that the accused might have
been guilty. That way a lot more convictions would be secured. It bothers me that a *lot* of people are happy with this idea
of so-called justice I stopped off at Morrisons for supplies, then went on to work where I had a surprisingly busy day
messing about with prolems arising from the M and K
blood groups. (Most people think blood groups stop at "B"!) And then with one load of work done I started another. "Daddies Little Angel TM"
had given orders for me to collect another sofa, and who was I to disobey?
Fortunately for my back loading the sofa was quite easy - I was able to park
up very near to the house from which it was coming. However I did have three
trips up and down the stairs when dropping the sofa off. I came home and despite having (again) overdone the lifting I
then had a rather busy evening. Monthly accounts, ironing, but I did get to
watch "Gotham" ... |
|
26 January 2016
(Tuesday) - A Poodle
Again I slept like a log. Pehaps a busy day
at work followed by a busy evening at work and bed after mignight
had something to do with that. Yesterday I started making some geo-plans. With a current geo-score of
5968 (not that I'm counting) I would like to do something special for
number 6000. There are only about a dozen geo-web-cams in the country. The
nearest is in London. I have a plan to go there in a week or so. I've made up
an
event on Facebook for this. It seems to have attracted quite a bit of
interest. If any of my loyal readers would like to come along please do. The
more the merrier. As well as the webcam there are several virtual puzzles to go and find
(which I have already solved in theory) and half a dozen (or so)
sets of geology homework to do as we walk around. I worked (and completed) on one such geology excercise over brekkie. There are those that say that
armchair logging is cheating (and have told me so!). I would agree...
but all I'm actually doing is preparation. I can't help but think that the
day trip to London will be quite rushed as it is. Fannying
about on Google when out and about is unneccessary fannying about when you can do it at home, and we are
going to actually visit all all the places in
question anyway. My little dog seemed particularly soppy and clingy this morning as I
geo-puzzled. Sid went back to live with "Daddies
Little Angel TM" yesterday; I wonder if Fudge is missing
him. I thought that Fudge rather bullied him; perhaps I was wrong. Yesterday I phoned the train time phone number (0345 484950) to
ask them when the first off-peak train will leave Ashford on the day of our
London trip. I got given a time, but bearing in mind how unreliable that
phone number can be I phoned back and was told something different. So I
asked to speak to the supervisor. Someone claiming to be called "Leonard"
came on the line and gibbered incoherently for five minutes. So having a little time on my hands before work this morning I walked
"Furry Face TM" up to the train station's ticket
office to talk to them. The nice lady on the desk spoke English (which was
a help) and told me the earliest time at which she would sell me an
off-peak ticket. A different time to both the times I was told yesterday. As we walked we met an old lady with a poodle. The old lady was pleasent enough; it was a shame that "Furry Face TM"
chose to mount the poodle and then got bashed up by said poodle. We came home and I spent a few minutes doing a little more geology
homework. As I googled and wikipedia-ed the
letterbox rattled. Postie had been. I fetched the
letters and had what I can only describe as a flashback. It is a matter of public record that five years ago I had some rather unpleasent dealings with my professional regulator. It
wasn't a good time, and I try not to dwell on it Today that regulator sent me
a letter. Only a circular; nothing of real importance. But I saw their logo
on the envelope and it brought back some rather nasty memories. I didn't
quite throw up, but it was close, and I seriously considered phoning work to
say I would be off sick today. But I didn't. Perhaps I should have... |
|
27 January 2016
(Wednesday) - Money, Soup
I slept reasonably well even if I did wake to find I was cuddling my
dog as though he was a teddy bear. Leaving him snoring I had a bit of brekkie
and watched last week's episode of "Extant". It is a good
enough show I suppose, but there are many better shows that have been
cancelled. I wonder just what it is that keeps this one on our screens. I spent a few minutes looking on social media, but overnight
absolutely nothing had happened. Probably for the best. I then spent a few minutes trying to find my car. I completely forgot
where I'd parked it last night. It would either have been up or down the
road. I tried looking down. It was actually up. And having located the car I
set off to work. As I drove the news on the radio wound me up somewhat. The oil giant
Shell was supposedly considering taking
over some other company today. I don't know the details; frankly I don't
really care. But what wound me up was the attitude of the Shell executive
being interviewed. The takeover wasn't being judged for the benefit to the
company in terms of its core business... Or actually it was. I naively thought that Shell's business was all
about drilling for oil. Apparently it is not. Its raison d'ętre is to make
money. The chap being interviewed made it crystal clear that whatever the
company did with regard to the takeover wouldn't be about what was best for
oil production; it would be all about what generated most profit. And this attitude is true of absolutely everything. Schools,
hospitals, transport... all of life is now about turning a quick
profit. The world would be a better place if a few more people were a lot
less greedy. I got to work and did my thing. Over lunch I spent a few minutes
dusting off the talk I'm going to give to the astro
club on Friday. I first did this talk some years ago and in that time it has
aged somewhat. Several of the jokes have been blagged
by others (quite a few times) and now just seem rather tired, so they
got chopped. And (in order to appear to be current) I shoe-horned in a
couple of articles that recently appeared on the club's Facebook feed to make
it look as though I pay attention. Hopefully the talk will keep the masses entertained; if I should it
loud enough none of the punters will realise I'm
making it up as I go along. An otherwise dull day was lightened by a visit from an old colleague. the inestimable Soup Boy left to take up professional
running over a year ago. He popped in to day to say
hello. I was amazed how much I'd missed him. I came home through the rain and walked "Furry Face TM"
despite the rain. Perhaps I'm being harsh but the walk was so much easier
with only one dog. Sid did dawdle so much. The idea was then to have a pleasent eveniing in. But "Daddies
Little Angel TM" has given orders to "er indoors TM" and sent her on a
mission. And I'm sitting here waiting. As usual... |
|
28 January 2016
(Thursday) - Jack and the Beanstalk
Finding myself falling asleep in front of the telly
last night I took myself off for an early(ish)
night. After a rather vivid nightmare involving a rather fraught family
Christmas dinner on the East Hill lift (in Hastings) I found myself
then laying awake for much of the night. I finally
gave up any attempt at sleep shortly before 5.30am. Over a spot of brekkie I combed my dog (he likes that) whilst
watching the Channel Four show "Crashing". I don't know
whether I like it or not, but it fills the time before work. I had a look-see on-line; I had an email from Amazon. they gave me a promotion code allowing me a free e-book
because I had recently registered a Kindle app. Apparently. I don't remember
doing so, but something for nothing is always a good thing. It was as well that I was up early today. Being a "geo-calendar
day" I wanted to go find a geocache before work. Pausing only
briefly to scrape all the ice from my car I set off. I had a target in mind. Some geocaches are bigger than others. Some of the bigger ones are
called "Travel Bug Hotels" and are bigger so that there is
space inside them for travel bugs. (Travel Bugs are things that travel the
world from cache to cache and you can follow their travels on the geo-website).
According to my information there was one such Travel Bug Hotel not far from Hythe... I don't want to sound negative but I must admit I was rather
disappointed to find what I can only describe as a rather small sandwich box
thrown in amongst some rubbish at the roadside. The description of the thing
specified "ground level" so I can only assume it was where
it was supposed to be even though there was plenty of space inside the nearby
(less than two feet away) crash barrier. And I was also a tad miffed to find that two of the three travel bugs
I'd brought along were too big to fit inside it. Still, on the plus side I arrived at work to find that having detoured
down the motorway I'd managed to miss the serious hold-ups which had blocked
my usual route to work. Once at work I did what I couldn't avoid doing. Over lunch I spent a
little while working on tomorrow's presentation for the astronomy club.
Despite quite a bit of effort this presentation isn't going to last more than
ten minutes. Mind you I suppose that if it went on any longer the punters
would only fall asleep. I also phoned the vet and made an appointment for "Furry Face TM" . His booster against kennel cough is due. I want
him to be vaccinated; I doubt he will appreciate that it is for the best. People
rarely do when having needles rammed up their khybers.
Once home from work (and with dog walked) we went up the road
where the local am-dram group were putting on a pantomime. I've been meaning
to get along to this for years. It was a really good show - I cheered the
heroes, I booed the villains. I laughed nearly all the way through. But the
funniest bit must have been when my seat snapped half way through the second
act. Mind you I was a tad miffed to find the dame was being played by a
woman. It should be a bloke in drag. I wonder if they are open to
volunteers... |
|
29 January 2016
(Friday) - Rather Negative Today...
I gave up trying to sleep after a rather restless night and was up and
watching this week's "Extant" before 6am. The plot of the
show seems to be being made up as the show goes along, but I found myself more
and more being amazed bythe fact that Halle Berry
is only two years younger than I am. The years have been much more forgiving
to her than they have to me. I quickly had a look on-line. Last night's on-line squabble seems to
have died a death which was probably for the best. Why is it that whenever I
disagree with someone I take the line of "I disagree with you for the
following reasons..." but when anyone disagrees with me they take
the line of "I disagree with you therefore you are a bastard"?
This is getting just a little bit wearing. The morning's haul of emails brought a little frustration. Having
spent out recently to replace my paper Ordnance Survey map of the East Kent
area I am now told that had I waited a few days I could have got the map a lot
cheaper by trading in my
old map in part exchange. As I drove to work I listened to the radio. Four out of every ten
teachers have received a slap (or worse) from their pupils.
Apparently "A lack of boundaries at home was singled out as the top
reason for challenging, disruptive or violent behaviour". I saw red on this one. When I was a lad I didn't see my father in the morning; he'd gone to
work by the time I got up. Most mornings I would get up myself, scoff brekkie
and go to school where I would spend most of the day. By the time I got home
and had some tea and done some homework it was usually bed time. Dad would
come home about two to three hours after I got home. It was much the same when my children were small. Whilst my mum laid
down the law (as did "er indoors TM")
most fathers are working every hour God sends. It is the teachers with whom
the children spend most of their time, and it is these same teachers who
should be setting some kind of moral and social example for the children. Four out of ten teachers have experienced physical violence from their
charges. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves because they are
afraid. Doesn't this tell us something? People don't like being hurt perhaps? When I was a lad the headmaster had a cane. He didn't need to wield it
very often; the threat was enough. But periodically some oik
would cross the line and would get two (NOT six) of the best. One boy
had a sore arse for a day; a thousand boys behaved
themselves and did their lessons (and didn't dream of attacking a teacher)
for two years until the next oik got lippy. I think
that is a fair price. However things have changed at my old school. The cane has gone and I
have heard recent tales of children openly sniffing glue in the classrooms. My children's headmaster didn't have a cane. He had a permanently shut
door (behind which he hid) and employed a load of support staff armed
with politically correct platitudes. Whenever "My Boy TM"
misbehaved, the teachers never dreamed of punishing him; they would sit down
and try to discuss his crimes. He openly sneered at them. And "Daddies Little Angel TM"'s misdemeanours
were rewarded with being given time off school so she could "reflect".
I've always said both fruits of my loin would have benefitted from a
sore arse from their teachers from time to time.
And told them both so. And in retrospect "Daddies
Little Angel TM" has told me she
agrees with me. I got to work,an d
an early start made for an early finish. From work I met Stevey
at the station and we went on for McScoff with
Steve and Sarah. And having McSoffed we went on to astro club. I'd not been looking forward to going tonight. In all honesty I've not
really looked forward to any of the club's meetings for some time. On the one
hand I get to meet with a dozen good friends and a couple of dozen of other
really good people that I have come to know over the years. On the other hand
I am made to feel very awkward by the attitude of three people who make no
secret of the fact that they detest me. It is heartening to be assured by
everyone else that they want me to remain a part of the club despite the
bullies, but I find it difficult to ignore them. Tonight I made a point of making a joke of their attitude, but it is wearing
a little thin... |
|
30 January 2016
(Saturday) - The Imperial War Museum
I slept surprisingly well last night, waking only minutes before the
alarm. Over brekkie (shared with "Furry Face TM")
I watched "Toddlers and Tiaras"; something I've not watched
for a few weeks. Today's show seemed to be devoted to the children of the
incredibly obese; not a single mother interviewed seemed to be less than
thirty stone in weight. They all seemed very annoyed with life in general. (Somewhat
like me over the last few days!) I checked my emails; I had one from an employment agency (Black Belt
Healthcare) asking if (with my scientific background)
I'd ever considered doing the job I've actually been doing for over thirty
years. I can't help but wonder if these people actually read the C.V.s that get submitted to
them. Not that I've submitted one to anyone for a couple of years, and
certainly never to Black Belt Healthcare. (Whoever they are) Jimbo and Stevey arrived and having settled
"Furry Face TM" (who was going to have
adventures of his own with "Daddies Little
Angel TM") we made our way to the railway station. We met
up with the rest of our number and fifteen of us got on the train to
Waterloo. As we travelled Stevey told us of a film
he'd seen; a war-time romantic comedy set in a restaurant about two gay
zombies (a nom-non bom
hom zom rom com) and
that rather set the tone of the day. Despite what I read on-line every day the train service got us to our
destination with no delays, and soon we were looking for brekkie. We found a place
called "Ecco". I specifically
mention it because if any of my loyal readers are in the area and want food I
feel I should warm them. We ordered several full English breakfasts between
us. The portions were rather small and the food was cold. the
so-called "grilled" tomatoes were utterly raw. From here we made our way to the Imperial War Museum. I took a minor
diversion for geo-purposes (today was a calendar day) and once at the
museum we broke up into smaller groups and all did our own things for a
couple of hours. I had this plan to start at the bottom of the building and
work upwards so me and "er indoors TM"
made our way into the World War I exhibition. We played with the interactive
displays; I dressed as an officer from a hundred years ago... and suddenly we
realised we'd used up over half of our alloted time and had only seen half of the first floor.
We had four and a half more floors to cover. We moved on through exhibits from the Second World War; I had no idea
the V2 rockets were so big. We found the actual civil emergency telephone
which would have been used in Ashford in the event of a nuclear strike. We
saw some of the wreckage from the 9-11 attack, and a suicide bomber's vest. As we walked round we met, joined with, and wandered off from others
in our group. Having made the conscious decision to all do our own things no
one felt under any obligation to stick together, and
everyone could do things at their own pace. That was a good thing. Some
people want to read every work on every exhibit; I can see the entire museum
in one glance. Today's plan worked well. We'd agreed to all meet up for lunch at 1.30pm. We did so. Lunch was
coffee and cake. Very nice coffee and cake. And as everyone chatted over
coffee and cake I devoured mine and fell asleep for half an hour. I was
finally woken by a phone call from "Daddies
Little Angel TM" with a dog update. We then went back into the museum for a bit. I made a point of not
going to the section on the Holocaust. Perhaps it was cowardice on my part,
but I don't think I want to know more about what happened. Instead we went up
to the top of the museum where there were many displays about the careers of
many individual heroes. And then, pausing only briefly to have a look around the TIbetan Peace Garden we made our way back to Waterloo and
Ashford. As I walked I found myself in a rather thoughtful frame of mind. Did I
like the Imperial War Museum? In all honesty I didn't like it. It was a
really good museum; the dispays were excellent. It
was thought provoking, and I had tears in my eyes on several occassions. I can thoroughly recommend it as an exellent place to visit. Everyone should visit it to see
just how nasty people can be to each other. But I didn't *like* it. We were soon on the train to Ashford. Some of our number had to say
goodbyes; the rest of us adjourned to the pub for a crafty half then on to
the Imperial China for a spot of dinner. I don't think I've been in there
before. the "all you can eat"
buffet wasn't cheap, but we certainly got our money's worth. I came home. I
took several photos whilst we were out; I uploaded them and then sat
feeling rather sorry for myself alternately farting and realising
the fallacy of letting a greedy person like me loose on an "all you
can eat" buffet. |
|
31 January 2016
(Sunday) - Sole Street
Last night as I went to bed I saw my alarm was set. This morning I realised it was still set for yesterday when I needed to
be up an hour earlier than I did today. So having been rudely awoken at 6am I
lay awake for half an hour before giving up. I got up feeling somewhat rough. We didn't actually walk that far
yesterday; three miles at most. So I was at a loss as to why I ached so much
this morning. Also my insides weren't quite what they might have been; I
might think twice about an "all you can eat" buffet in the
future. I shared my brekkie toast with "Furry Face TM".
He ate that happily enough but wouldn't touch his own brekkie until "er indoors TM" put a small piece of
cheese on it. He then yummed it up. I had a look-see on-line. Little of note had happened overnight so I
programmed "Hannah" for the day's planned walk. I must admit
had I been thinking I would have charged up my tablet last night and used
that today. I was rather miffed to find it was only at twenty eight per cent
battery life. Last night the old "GPS vs
phone" row kicked off on Facebook. Having used GPS, phone and tablet
extensively for hunting tupperware over the last
three years I have come to the considered conclusion that the only advantage
of a GPS unit is that it has a strap so you can hang the thing round your
neck. We collected Suzy and her associate and set off to Sole Street where
we met the rest of today's geo-wanderers. Having spent the last few weeks
solving several geo-puzzles the time had come to go find the caches. I must admit I was a little disappointed with the morning's route. having had a look-see using Google Street View I planned
our route along lanes which looked rather quiet and narrow. They turned out o be much wider and busier than I had thought. After a couple of hours we were back where we'd left the cars. We'd
left them by a pub. We had a pint of lunch and then went off on a circular
stroll using (mostly) footpaths. I was much more pleased with the
afternoon's route. After some nine miles walking we found ourselves back at the cars.
Some of our number had to get away; some of us stayed for a pint of Doombar followed by a pint of Dartford
Wobbler. I then slept most of the way home. I
took a few photos whilst we were out. Once home I got them on-line then
scoffed a rather good bit of tea whilst watching yesterday's episode of
"Dad's Army". They didn't like it up 'em.
Whilst I waited for the washing machine to do its thing I had a look-see
on-line. I then got my shirts ironed and watched a little telly.
I fell asleep half way through "War and Peace", |
