1 May 2026 (Friday) - Memories of Bukhara

With an alarm set I woke far too early. Rather than laying awake I got up and watched an episode of “The Man In The High Castle” in which nothing really happened. It was the first episode of a new series and was all about introducing new characters. TV shows wind me up in that most of them have a plan for one season and if that is popular then further seasons are made up as they go along. So few TV shows actually have a coherent story all the way through.

I sparked up the lap-top and had my usual rummage round Facebook. One posting to a Hastings-related group wound me up as it mentioned something that “accored” yesterday which caused “bedlem” on a “rund about”, and everyone was just laughing at the poor fellow who’d asked an honest question. Why don’t people do themselves a favour and take two seconds to look at what they’ve typed? The auto-correct thingy will prompt when it thinks you’ve spelled something wrong.

I set off to work listening to the pundits on the radio interviewing a professional landlord. A new law came into force today. In theory it is a good thing supposedly improving the lot of people who live in rented houses. In practice it makes things rather more difficult for the landlord who only rents out one or two houses, and the consensus of opinion was that these people will be selling up, and those buying are those who already own dozens of rented houses. I couldn't work out whether or not this was good or bad. But when it comes to private renting, I always think of the husband of someone with whom I used to work. Some time ago he came into enough money to buy a house which he rented out as a small business. That brought in enough money to fund another house... and within a few years he had over fifty houses across the county. A nice little earner...

And there was talk about how the average British Jewish person is afraid to walk the streets following the recent murders. It would seem that there are those half-wits who cannot distinguish between what's going on in the Middle East and individuals minding their own business who've never been any closer to Gaza than Margate. Maybe those presenting the news might try to make the distinction a tad clearer? I can remember my mother being almost hysterical because some of my work colleagues were (and still are) Muslims. Having read the hate stirred up in her daily newspaper she thought that I worked with cut-throat maniacs... 

The press has a lot to answer for.

I stopped off at the Sainsbury's petrol station in Aylesford to get petrol. Being six pence per litre cheaper than Ashford I saved just over two quid. That was a result. However there was a minor delay at the till as the chap at the front of the queue was kicking off. As well as one of yesterday's sandwiches he wanted a pastie and something else (I didn't see what it was) and he wasn't happy that the woman on the till wouldn't do him a "meal deal". Other people get "meal deals", why couldn't he? He took it as a personal affront that only certain things counted in a "meal deal".

Eventually he begrudgingly paid up and cleared off, and once I'd paid up myself I went over to the supermarket to get my own meal deal.

Work was work, but being on the early shift meant I got out promptly. I came home and did “FEED THE FISH” then sat by the pond for a while. I did have a vague idea to take the dogs to Orlestone, but having had to park the car three streets away I couldn’t be bothered to walk them back to the car.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up cauliflower cheese which we scoffed whilst watching yesterday’s episode of “Race Across The World” in which the contestants followed our footsteps through Uzbekistan. As they went through Khiva and Bukhara we saw places we visited two years ago, and two of the contestants had a pint in the very same lakeside bar where we did not five minutes’ walk from our hotel…

That was a good holiday… but I wouldn’t do it without a guide like they do in. “Race Across The World”.

2 May 2026 (Saturday) - A Lazy Day

I had a rather good night’s sleep and didn’t wake until five o’clock when I found myself huddled up with Morgan. I lay dozing, but couldn’t stop thinking about Uzbekistan having seen it on telly last night. Or not so much Uzbekistan as our holiday group. We went on a guided tour with twenty-five other people. Over a week and a half friendships were forged and we became close. Then at the airport everyone just went their separate ways without (for the most part) even saying goodbye. Is this how these guided tours work? I suppose it is how the world works really. I’ve done three residential courses with the Open University where I met some great friends and immediately lost contact with them. Or look at people with whom I worked for years who I’ve now not seen for years.

I made toast and had my usual trawl round the Internet. It was still there. And people were still quarrelling. No matter what the subject (politics, religion, geocaching, dogs, 1980s music, 1970s kids comics, Star Trek, tattoos, Poldark, Upstairs Downstairs…) people couldn’t resist the chance to be nasty to each other. I moderate a Facebook group about “Upstairs Downstairs” and this morning I had to remove a comment in which some irate Canadian was telling someone from Manchester to “f… off”.

I had an email. The Wherigo I’d been working on had gone live, and I’d got an e-souvenir for having had a geocache published in May

I Munzed, and Wordled my way from “found” through “spine” and “blink” to get “bring” on the fourth attempt.

As I fiddled about Steve was on the radio. This week’s “Guess the Lyrics” competition was “She likes to wear her leather boots because it’s exciting for the veterans and it’s a tonic for the troops”. I knew that right away. “She’s So Modern” by the Boomtown Rats.

And having got the thumbs-up we got ready for Dog Club.

I got to Dog Club early. Having been told that there were issues with the lock that I needed to sort out I took a can of WD40 and gave it a squirt. That did the trick.

And then the dogs all arrived and we had a great time. Dogs ran and chased and generally ran riot as dogs do.

“er indoors ^TM” set off to craft club. I brought the dogs home. As I drove Steve was doing the mystery year competition on the radio. I thought I had it with the clues of “Fraggle Rock” and “You Bet”, and then Steve made a boo-boo referring to the Telecommunications Act (1984). Woops! – but it confirmed that my ideas were right.

I made myself a cuppa as my phone pinged. There was another post in the “Upstairs Downstairs” Facebook group from the irate Canadian. This time she was telling someone in Australia to “drop dead” do I banned her. But it’s a bit pathetic, isn’t it? Who on Earth gets themselves banned from an “Upstairs Downstairs” Facebook group?

I had a tittle tidy-up, scrubbed some ot the limescale out of the toilet (which was a strangely satisfying job)

And when “er indoors ^TM” came home we made the most of the weather by having a beer in the garden. Steve and Sarah joined us for an hour or so until the rain hit, and then we came in and sparked up the Infinity table.

A lazy day, but a good one…

3 May 2026 (Sunday) - Hic !

I had something of an early night last night, and then woke at two o’clock. I dozed on and off, but my numb hand was tingling, my bad shoulder was aching, and I’d got the song “Remember You’re a Womble” playing on repeat in my head.

I got up at seven o’clock, made toast, and was somewhat dismayed to see the petty bickering was still continuing in the “Upstairs Downstairs” Facebook group. One person had taken great exception that I’d banned people for swearing at others. Apparently I’d gone against pretty much every rule of decent society by banning free speech. I chucked him out right away. We don’t want his sort. Free speech doesn’t mean people have the right to be deliberately offensive. And someone had declared that someone else was an idiot. They got the heave-ho too.

I thought about putting up another “argue nicely” post but that just seems to be a red rag to a bull for so many people.

I sent out birthday wishes, then Munzed. The Clan War started today… or “Gauntlet Game” as it’s now called. Effectively it is still scanning bar codes on lamp posts so it has changed in name only. But I opened Qrates, put out cards and had a Widdle too.

I Wordled. Starting with “night” gave me absolutely nothing. So I started again with “salve” which also gave me nothing. Having effectively wasted two goes I only had four tries left. “Proof” was a step in the right direction, and I got it with “puffy” on the fourth attempt. 

With thunderstorms forecast for the day we got ready for the off. Pausing only briefly to get some overpriced petrol we drove up to the Medway services for what was (in all honesty) one of the worst geo-meets I’ve been to.

We met up at the Medway services where a whole load of geocaching ad-labs had been set up. I’d been part of that, I’d actively encouraged the thing and in retrospect I wonder if I should have. To my mind the whole point of a geocaching meet is to meet up with old friends and to meet new friends. Most people at today’s meet  were sitting in silence fiddling on their phones doing the ad-labs. I very soon lost interest with the ad-labs and couldn’t get away from there quick enough. My geocaching score went up by one hundred and thirteen today… I can’t help but think that’s not right.

Form there we drove out to Sheerness and Whelan’s. We got some bits and bobs, and from there went on to Sittingbourne. We had a particularly good afternoon in Karl and Tracy’s garden.

Now that was the place to be. The afternoon became much more vague as it went on…

4 May 2026 (Monday) - Bank Holiday

I slept well, but was wide awake about three hours than I would have wanted to be. I tried to nod off, but I gave up and was peering into the Internet far too early this morning. And it was much the same as it ever was.

There was a frankly incomprehensible post on one of the pond-related Facebook pages I follow. Someone was trying to compare pond filters but their posting was about half a page long, lacked any punctuation at all and was frankly gibberish. To give just one example of what the readers were up against, at one point I think the chap was trying to compare two different filters. I would have written “this one does such-and-such as opposed to that one…” However, this fellow didn’t like the phrase “as opposed to”; preferring to use “has a post do” instead. Sadly, most people replying to his question (I *think* it was supposed to be a question and not a rant) were asking “WTF are you talking about” rather than offering any advice, and offence was being taken all round.

There were posts about today’s Jack In The Green festival in Hastings. We’ve been down to it in the past and had a great time. With the weather forecast for today having improved I vaguely considered kicking “er indoors ^TM” out of bed and and getting ready to go there. But it wasn’t really practical. The train from Ashford only has two carriages and would have been rammed *if* it had been running. I later found out it was a bus service today. If we’d driven, the nearest place to park would have been about a mile away up the hill where my gran used to live in Clive Vale.

“Daddies’ Little Angel ^TM” sent a message. She’s thinking about signing up for medical experiments. That would give her something to do.

I Munzed, I Wordled from a useless start with “would” onto a slightly better “shine” and almost got it with “miser”, and did get it on the fourth attempt with “riser”.

I went into the garden. Once I’d gathered dog turds I had a look at the garden’s biggest water feature. On Saturday I saw it wasn’t working. After a little farting around I found the problem was in the length of cable from the shed to the switch. Plugging the thing into the cable I use for the lawn mower had it gushing like a thing possessed. So the fix was easy. Simply replace the length of cable from the shed to the switch.

How easy to type.

Not so easy to do.

First of all I needed about fifteen metres of cable. I could have gone to B&Q but from experience I’ve found the staff to be surly and unhelpful (and that’s when they are in a good mood) so I drove across town to Wickes. I got what I needed, but whilst I’d been out so the outlet centre had opened. The roads were something of a nightmare coming home.

Once home I had a cuppa, then cracked on.

I hoiked out as much of the old cable as I could, laid out the new and trashed the switch in the process. But nil desperandum. I just wired in the outdoor switch that I’d found in the shed. I wonder what I’d bought that for? But it was in the shed so I thought I’d use it. I wired it all up, switched it on and then I realised a problem. This switch that I’d found was absolutely useless in that it only worked all the time I held it down. When I released it, it turned off. So, with all else having failed, I read the instructions. And saw that was how the switch was supposed to work. What did I ever get it for?

I went back to the shop.

As I’d driven home earlier the traffic from the outlet was queuing back past B&Q; going to Wickes would have taken an age so against my better judgement I went to B&Q. “er indoors ^TM” came; we made a little dog walk of it. I found an outdoor switch and queued for ages before I could actually get it. There were two tills with staff on them. All the others were self-service ones and the surly chap who works there was openly sneering at the people struggling with the self-service tills.

I came home… and saw that there were no screws to close up the box of the switch I’d just bought. I sighed and went back to B&Q. The surly chap was standing underneath a sigh saying returns so I went up to him and cheerfully announced my issue. He cut me off and grunted that I should bother the ladies on the tills who were working and not bother him who was clearly doing nothing.

The nice lady on the till suggested I might like to get a new switch…I had a look and saw that all of the boxes like the one I wanted had been opened and all of the screws had been removed. Who on Earth is that sad that they nick all of the screws from the outdoor switches in B&Q?

I got a more expensive one, and we checked it was all there.

I came home for the third time, and this time all was good. I wired up the new switch and all worked fine. I then spent an hour or so moving gravel and shingle and slabs to hide the new cable. After six hours the garden was back as it had been before; albeit with a working water feature.

I then scrubbed the algae from the water line in the big pond and cleaned out its aerator pump. I only did that a few weeks ago.

I had planned to hoik out the dead cordyline and put the lilac tree cuttings into place, but that can wait for another day.

As I’d pulled out the old poggered cable earlier, I saw that it had been chewed. That’s not good. I ordered an ultrasonic rat deterrent which should arrive in a couple of days. Good old Amazon.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up burgers which we scoffed whilst watching a couple more episodes of “The Orville”. I know we’ve seen them all before; I don’t remember any of them.

5 May 2026 (Tuesday) - Back To Work

As I turned the telly on this morning there was an episode of “Friends” playing. I loathe and detest that show for the very reason that my mother would have loved it. Every time there’s a joke, the canned laughter is played (far too loudly) and the cast all grimace at the camera so that you know it is funny. My mother could never understand comedy that didn’t tell you quite so bluntly that it was funny, and to her any comedy show without the canned laughter was just “strange”.

I watched another episode of “The Man In The High Castle” then had a look at the Internet in case I’d missed much. I hadn’t really. There were quite a few photos from the Jack In The Green celebrations in Hastings yesterday, and a friend had acquired a cat in much the same way as we once lost one. Someone’s cat has just moved in to his house. Many years ago our old cat just stopped coming home and went to live with the mad old woman down the road.

Taking care not to wake anyone I got ready for work.

I set off to work listening to the pundits on the radio as I do. The cease fire in the Middle East is into its fourth week but is beginning to look shaky. For all that the Iranians aren't the ones that started it, you'd think that they would realise that the Americans are being led by a twit and they would make some allowances, wouldn't you?

And there was a lot of talk about this week's upcoming elections. It seems odd how a Prime Minster who won such a landslide victory over a year or so ago is now so hated by the electorate and is running scared from a party which has a proven track record of stuffing it up. The first time UKIP ran a council, they nearly bankrupted it when Thanet District Council descended into chaos, with plunging reserves, mass resignations, and warnings of financial collapse whilst the UKIP councillors focused on national talking points instead of fixing local problems. And they've not done much better with Kent County Council either, have they?  But as I've said (many times before) UKIP, Reform UK or whatever they are called this week just loudly and confidently tell the masses what the masses want to hear, whilst in comparison the Prime Minister is very dull.

I went in to Sainsburys to get a sandwich. The miserable old woman was on duty today, standing over the self-service tills and glaring at the public. Her time would be so much more productively put to use if she were to actually do something.

And then it was on to work where it was surprisingly busy.

Being on an early I got out promptly. I came home where we did “FEED THE FISH” and I was a tad miffed to see the pond’s aerator pump was struggling somewhat. I only cleaned that out yesterday. Mind you I did get given it second hand from the people who used to live next door who moved out six years ago so I can’t really complain. I’ve got a vague idea there’s another old pump in the shed… I shall have a look.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up sausages and chips which we scoffed whilst watching a couple of episodes of “The Orville”. One of them starred two doctors from “Star Trek”, and both episodes had ideas that had been done years ago in “Star Trek”… but “The Orville” probably did them better.

And in closing, I’ve found myself spending much of today thinking back to another day after a Bank Holiday. It was in the early eighties when I was slowly coming out of my religious nut phase. I had an exam the day after the Bank Holiday. On the day of the Bank Holiday there was some happy-clappy religious event bollox taking place to which all my mates of the time were going. I'd planned to miss this event because I needed to revise for the exam. But my fellow religious nut friends seriously claimed that if I went to the happy-clappy religious event bollox then God himself would help me with the exam. But (so it was claimed) if I didn't go, then God would take personal offence that I hadn't gone sucking up and would make sure the exam was needlessly difficult.

That really was the mentality of the righteous with whom I used to associate. And one of them currently runs a church in the West Country.

6 May 2026 (Wednesday) - Wilmington

I slept well… but woke in a panic following a nightmare in which I’d built a sunken water feature in my deceased father’s shed and the house’s new owner wasn’t at all happy that the thing kept flooding.

What was that all about?

I got up and made toast. Yesterday I was a tad scathing about Reform UK’s ability to form a local council… However I would like to think that opinion was formed from the evidence of what they’ve actually done.

This morning Facebook suggested that I might like to follow the “We Loathe Reform UK” page and had presented me with a posting from some woman claiming to be an activist of the Roma community who was basically exhorting people to clout Reform UK supporters with crowbars. I was also presented with the Facebook page of an independent councillor who was claiming that another councillor in his ward had poured a milkshake over himself and then posted photos of himself claiming he’d been attacked in order to get the sympathy vote.

Is this *really* where UK politics had ended up?

I Munzed, and typed “panic” into Wordle. That got me two letters. “Ninny” told me where those two letters went, and I proved that with “bison”. “Widen” got me a little closer, “given” had me marking time, and I got it on the last go with “liken”.

I checked the geo-map, got my sat-nav “Hannah” set up, and we got ready for the day.

We set off on today’s adventure and made the mistake of following Google’s instructions to get to our destination. Google took us seemingly through every narrow lane in Kent and Sussex to eventually get us to Wilmington. Some time ago I’d seen there was a geo-meet at the top of the iconic Long Man planned for this afternoon so we drove down for that, We arrived early and had a rather good hour walking thought the village finding geocaches and solving field puzzles before lunch.

Lunch was in the aptly-named Long Man Inn which I can heartily recommend. “er indoors ^TM” had the chicken burger. I had the Sussex Cheeses ploughman’s which was very good. Blue cheese from Brighton, and goat’s cheese brie from Horam… And I had a couple of pints of decent ale too.

From there the plan was to walk in a pretty much straight line up to the meet at the top of the hill. But as we walked through the village we met Gordon and Ralph who said that there was a new geocaching Adventure Lab series that went (on a circuitous route) from the village up to the Long Man. We then met the chap who was running the geo-meet and he was up for a little diversion too. And as we climbed the hill we were joined by Carl who’d set the new Ad-Lab series.

We climbed the hill. There’s no denying that it was rather hard work, but the views from the top were spectacular. As geo-meets go the attendance was low, but today was just what this silly hobby is all about. A great walk with amazing views in the company of some very good people.

I took quite a few photos as we walked today. Amazingly we only covered five miles. About the same as one of our longer walks round Kings Wood. But it seemed a whole lot longer.

We came home following the roads we knew rather than the ones that we didn’t. We stopped off in Jempson’s in Rye to get pizzas. Having had a good lunch we didn’t want too much for dinner.

Once home I saw that ultrasonic rat repelling device I’d ordered had arrived. I opened the box to see that they’d sent six… and sadly all six didn’t have the fittings to go into a UK plug socket. So I got onto Amazon who refunded my money and said to chuck the things in the bin.

Whilst I’m pleased to have a refund, this is a tad wasteful, isn’t it?

We scoffed the Jempson’s pizzas whilst watching more episode of “The Orville”. Both were rather good.

Today’s been rather good…

7 May 2026 (Thursday) - Rather Busy

“er indoors ^TM” went to the loo at four o’clock and Morgan followed her. He came back to bed and obviously was terrified of Treacle being already on the bed so came round to my side and did an amazing leap on to the bed, but stuffed up the landing. I managed to grab him as he slowly slid off the bed despite his frantic scrambling.

I didn’t really get back to sleep after that.

I got up and Munzed like a thing possessed. Overnight a garden of temporary Munzees has appeared, centred on our house. They’d arrived just as I’d gone to bed and would be going shortly after brekkie so I didn’t have long to Munz them.

And having Munzed I had a look at the Internet. There was consternation about the Victorian fountain in Viccie Park being expressed on the local Facebook pages. The thing needs some work doing but everyone posting were so quick to find fault and be negative. I really should stop following the local pages; they really wind me up. People who’ve lived their entire lives not fifty yards from where they were born put in so much time and effort running the town down. Maybe one in a thousand of them is prepared to actually do anything for the town, or for anyone else come to that.

And the local hospital had published an obituary for someone who used to work there. Someone with whom I used to work (for many years) died last week. Reading the gushing praise for a sterling and well-regarded fellow I found myself wondering if I actually knew him at all. I don’t really want to speak ill of the dead, but the dozens of tributes certainly didn’t mesh with my memories of the fellow.

I put a load of washing in to scrub, then took the dogs up to the woods. We walked half a mile more than we did yesterday and took two hours and a thousand steps less. How does that work? As we walked we met a couple of friends who were out geocaching. We had a good chat; I managed to stop them stroking Bailey. If she wants to be stroked she really shouldn’t roll in the fox poo, should she?

We came home where Bailey had a scrub… you wouldn’t believe just how much fox poo could be caked onto such a small dog. I hung out the washing, put the undercrackers in to tumble-dry and mowed the lawn before making myself a cuppa.

By then it was mid-day. Where does the time go? I watched an episode of “The Man In The High Castle” then went out to the garden. A couple of days ago I saw that the big pond’s aerator pump wasn’t running as well as it might. My initial thought was to get a new one, but a new one would be the thick end of a hundred quid so I pulled it out of the pond and as well as cleaning out the pump bit I cleaned out the tube that takes the water up to the splashy bit. That was ninety per cent blocked with muck. After ten minutes work it was all going far better than it had been, and that saved quite a bit of money too.

I then had a stroke of genius (I have those from time to time). The water coming back from the bog filter wasn’t going as fast as it might. I cleaned the pumps to that a while ago, but I didn’t scrape out the outlet…

I’ll do that another time.

I came in as it was getting cold. I marked more trainee’s work, wrote up CPD, then watched another episode of “The Man In The High Castle”. Our hero has effectively walked into Project Tic-Toc. It didn’t end well for Tony and Doug so why did he think he’d fare any better? As I watched telly I sorted the tumble-dried undercrackers. There’s never a dull moment in my world.

We then did “FEED THE FISH”; Treacle gets *so* excited about that.

“er indoors ^TM” came home from a day at the office and boiled up a particularly good bit of dinner. We washed it down with a bottle of plonk whilst watching this week’s episode of “Race Across The World” in which the contestants went through Tashkent. One pair of them worked at the huge food market that we visited when we were there, and another pair went through Amir Timur Square which we also visited and is not five minutes’ walk from one of the hotels in which we stayed.

8 May 2026 (Friday) - Done My Back

With no reason to be up early I was awake far too early and lay wide awake for far too long. I eventually got up at half past seven with backache.

I made toast and had a look at the Internet. Bearing in mind there had been local elections pretty much everywhere in the country except in Kent yesterday, there wasn’t that much political talk on social media. That which was there rather showed the futility of democracy. With only four out of ten people having voted, Reform UK had done well. But sadly people cheering for them had been (and still were) cheering them on in much the same way that they would cheer on their favourite football team. And people were looking forward to Nigel Farage taking over as Prime Minister clearly utterly unaware of the difference between local and national governments.

Hundreds of new councilors who claimed that they will stop the boats are now supposedly going to sort out potholes, bins and adult social care.

I was rather amazed to hear the deputy leader of Reform UK on the radio claiming that the election was a “complete rejection of the Labour and Conservative parties” when so many Reform UK candidates were standing as Conservative last time. A good example of this was Robert Jenrick  who was being interviewed on the radio as I drove the dogs up to the woods. The fellow is currently a Reform UK MP and he spent quite a bit of time rubbishing the previous Conservative government… in which he was a cabinet member.

Democracy, eh?

We got to the woods and had a mostly good walk. There was a minor episode when Morgan got a tad over-excited when chasing a small spaniel. The bloke with the spaniel was all for the excitement and said his dog needed to be told off by other dogs. I said I’m all for other dogs chasing his dog, but not Morgan who needs to learn not to get so over-excited.

My bird identifying app detected a great crested flycatcher. I thought that was rather clever of it bearing in mind that you don’t get those in the UK.

As we walked I saw a herd of a dozen deer. Amazingly the dogs didn’t see them, even though they were only about thirty yards from us.

We came home. I made us both a cuppa which we had with a bit of Swiss roll. I then Wordled from “early” through “ramin”, “charm” and “smart” to get “umbra” (stupid word) on the fifth attempt. I then cracked on in the garden. I cleaned out the pump in the small pond, then had a look at the pumps in the big pond that supply the pressure filter. I had an idea that their nozzles might be full of fish turds. They weren’t but one of them had a loose fitting. I sorted that, cleaned out the pressure filter and reassembled. The water flow has definitely improved.

I then shifted the pedestal that “My Boy ^TM” gave me a couple of weeks ago. I moved it maybe twenty yards and put one of the Easter Island heads on it. So easy to type: I nearly knacked myself doing it. It felt as though I might have pulled something in my hip and leg.

I put a load of washing in to scrub, read my Kindle for a bit, then set about the ironing as I watched two more episodes of “The Man In The High Castle” in which the plot has taken a very unexpected twist.

We did “FEED THE FISH”, I wrote up some CPD, I stood up and immediately collapsed; I’d definitely pulled something in my hip and leg. I stood up a tad more carefully and I got up. My trouble is that I don’t “stand up”; I leap up as though I was a child. I should carefully get up slowly as though I was the pensioner that I actually am. Getting old is sad.

We listened to Heart Radio for a bit – “er indoors ^TM” had entered their prize draw. I was all for turning it off when she didn’t win the seven hundred thousand pounds prize. But we listened to the excitement of the girl who’d won it, and I remembered Joyce. Joyce was one of the waitresses who worked with me at the Harbour Restaurant in Hastings in 1980. She won the Sun (newspaper) bingo and immediately and publicly told the boss just how far he could stick the waitressing job up his chuff. She bought a new house, and a new car, and took the family on holiday… and was back at the Harbour Restaurant in less than a month grovelling for her old job back. It didn’t take her long to spend far more than she’d won.

Blowing money is easy, no matter how much money you have.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a very good bit of dinner which we scoffed whilst watching another couple of episodes of “The Orville”.

I’m going to have an early night… I’ve got an early start tomorrow so I will be wide awake from two o’clock. Maybe going to bed early means I might get more shut-eye before I wake…

9 May 2026 (Saturday) - Early Shift

I had something of an early night but woke at ten to two and then just dozed on and off until finally giving up and trying to get up at half past four. “Trying” being the operative phrase… whatever damage I’d done doing the heavy lifting hadn’t got any better overnight.

I watched the last episode of “The Man In The High Castle” as I scoffed brekkie. It was a shame that having been a really good show I had to go onto the Internet to find out what the ending was all about. And whilst I was there I had a look at the Internet. Nothing was happening at half past five so I gingerly got up and took little while getting ready for work.

I hobbled out to the car and set off west-wards through the -hursts and the -dens. It was too early for the weekend news on the radio. Instead there was some utter tripe about the restoration of some heathland. What would have made rather good viewing on the telly made for rather rubbish listening on the radio. There's only so much description and being told to look at the pictures on the website that I can stand.

I switched over to my MP3 stick and sang along to Ivor Biggun.

I stopped off in Pembury's Tesco for lunch. Had I been at Maidstone today I would have tried the works canteen, but the Pembury one isn’t the same.

Tesco’s meal-deal looked good today - a barbecue chicken salad rather than a sandwich. When I came to pay, the self-service machine wanted the thick end of a tenner, and when I complained the poor little boy in the Tesco costume ran off to fetch his boss. There was quite the discussion amongst various members of staff as they tried to decide who it was that would have to tell me that what I wanted wasn't in the meal deal.

Am I that scary?

The chap who drew the short straw was adamant that the thing wasn't in the meal deal, and was not impressed when I pointed out the sign that said it was. He breathed an obvious sigh of relief when I said that I'd have the coronation chicken sandwich instead, but seemed utterly disinterested in removing the clearly wrong sign.

I went in to the early shift where I sulked. Saturday morning is usually Steve on the radio doing the "Guess the Lyrics" then Dog Club followed by Steve on the radio doing the Mystery Year. I missed all of that today.

But an early start made for an early finish. I came home to three dogs who were incredibly excited to see me. We did “FEED THE FISH” and they were then asleep within a couple of minutes.

I had a cuppa and counted the takings from Dog Club. We ask for a donation of one pound fifty per dog… there was twenty-seven quid and seventeen pence in the pot. What was that all about?

Chris arrived, and we spent a little while in the garden talking water features. Chris is keen to get one, but there’s more to them than just pretty splashy things. Ones at ground level look very nice but unearthing the pump for maintenance can be hard work. Splashy ones look pretty but soon empty the reservoir.

Steve and Sarah joined us, and we had a rather good evening on the Infinity Table. A game of “Game of Life” and a game of “Sorry” in both of which I didn’t quite come last.

And then a game of “Ticket to Ride” in which I had a plan, and I amazed myself at just how well that plan worked…

My back still hurts…

10 May 2026 (Sunday) - A Quiet Day

As I peered into Facebook as I scoffed my toast I saw a posting from an old friend who is currently living in Australia. He was getting nostalgic and was hoping someone might organise a reunion of his old school-mates. It would be good, but the trouble with a reunion is that in the intervening years a *lot* of people have moved away and getting everyone back together would be problematical at best. Take our old gang from the Boys Brigade. The turn-out at our old leader’s funeral was a tad disappointing (frankly piss-poor) bearing in mind how many people I contacted, but I contacted people who’d since gone to live in Bournemouth, Minehead, Sweden, Scotland, Tonbridge...

Or take my old school class. A couple of months ago one of our number was back in Hastings (from Canada). Three of us met up. Others had since moved to St Albans, Colchester, Australia, USA…

I checked my emails… three new geocaches had gone live locally. It would have been nice to see if I could get First to Find on one of them… but the same chap who gets all the FTFs had flown round and done the lot in less than an hour after they went live. I would have gone out hoping to get one and to leave the other two for others. But that’s just me.

I sulked as I had a little look at the flower pots in the garden and had a measure-up, then Munzed. Our Guild (we’re not a Clan any more!) had reached the first of our monthly targets. I Wordled from “waste” through “paddy” and “parch” to “parka”. I don’t think it could have been anything else.

We then took the dogs out. “er indoors ^TM” had some maintenance to do on a couple of her geocaches, and with that done we carried on to Orlestone where we walked the dogs round. Being mid-day I hoped that the normal people would all be having their lunch, and for the most part they all were. We only saw one other person and that was almost at the car park.

I took a few photos as we walked.

We came home… and I remembered that I’d meant to go to Wickes whilst we were out. So leaving “er indoors ^TM” with the dogs I went shopping. A week or so ago we had a rat problem, and looking at the aftermath it would seem that they’d hollowed out the sleepers that I’d used to edge the garden. They’d gnawed in and chewed away the softer wood, and left the knots in place. I had intended to replace those sleepers, but it struck me that was just making a new home for them. So I got a couple of planks of decking which will stand on bricks. Being open means there will be nowhere for the poor rats to make nests. I do feel sorry for them… but they can go nest elsewhere.

Again this was one of those things that was far easier to type than to do.  Driving over to Wickes, getting what I needed, bringing it home and giving the planks a first coat of paint took two hours.

We did “FEED THE FISH”, we had a cuppa and some ginger cake. With my back giving me some serious grief I sat down and spent a little while updating my geocaching databases for Kings Wood. A few weeks ago I found another sink hole up there. That’s twenty-eight in those woods. And I included the Wherigo I created last week into the database as well.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a very good bit of dinner which we scoffed whilst watching more episodes of “The Orville”.

Today has been a tad dull… and my back is still rather painful…

11 May 2026 (Monday) - A Walk, An FTF, Some Shopping

I slept rather better than I have done recently, but was still awake earlier than I wanted to be. I got up. My back was hurting, but I got up easier than I did on the last couple of days.

I made toast and had a look at the Internet. It was still there. People were squabbling about last week’s elections… every squabble showed that the squabblers had no idea of the issues that they’d been voting about.

People were squabbling about religion.

People were squabbling about ponds, dogs, geocaching… pretty much everything about which it would be possible to squabble.

I sighed… I look at social media to see what colleagues, friends and family have been doing with their lives, not to watch people I’ve never met quarrelling with people they will never meet.

I Munzed, opening two qrates. I Wordled from “argue” through “event”, “coney” and “neddy” to come up with “newly” on the fifth attempt. And I took the dogs up to the woods. When the schools are open I need to leave home either before half past seven or after nine o’clock so I don’t get stuck in traffic. I got out of town easily enough this morning but the traffic coming into Ashford was backed up a mile or so up the A251 to the woods.

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about how the Prime Minister’s days might be numbered, and whether he goes will be entirely down to some speech he is going to make. Surely he should be judged on what he does rather than what he says? This is why that idiot Boris Johnson survived so long. No one noticed how crap he was at actually doing the job; he was entertaining to listen to, and for most people that is all that counts.

And there was an interview with the ex-chairman of the league of A&E doctors (or whatever their club is called) who was saying how nice it would be to have one NHS-wide computer… I remember the debacle when that was tried last time…

We got to the woods and had a frankly epic walk of either six and three quarter miles or seven and one quarter miles, depending on whether you listen to my phone or my watch. But apart from a mild altercation with a Dalmatian the walk passed off pretty much entirely without incident.

We came home to find that “er indoors ^TM” was off on an errand with “Daddies’ Little Angel ^TM”. I told the Alexa to play “relaxing music for dogs” and I cracked on in the garden. I got another coat of paint on my planks, topped up the ponds and water features, bionically burned the weeds and topped up the bird feeder.

“er indoors ^TM” then came home and I made us a cuppa… then remembered I’d left the hose running topping up the big water feature… Woops.

I also saw a new geocache had gone live this morning near Lydd, and it hadn’t been found. I turned off the hose, and hopped into the car.

It didn’t take long to get to a lay-by on the road into Lydd, and after a quick search I spotted the geocache. I opened it up. The logsheet was blank… I was the first one to find it. Result ! That’s three hundred and one geocaches I’ve been first to find – I’ve got a list.

As I drove home so the rain started, so it was probably the best time to go shopping. I went to the garden centre at Hamstreet. Did they have anything that would get rid of rats in the garden? Yes. Did they have anything that would get rid of rats in the garden that *wouldn’t* kill the dogs? That got a blank stare… I got the impression that in the war against rats, killing the dogs would just be collateral damage.

I tried the new garden centre in the Home Bargains shop. It was closed; staff were turning customers away as the place had a power cut.

I tried Dobbies. They were helpful. As well as poisoning everything they had humane traps. The trouble with a humane trap is what do you do with what you’ve humanely captured? The nice lady suggested drowning the rats in a bucket of water (she really did!).

I went to Bybrook Barn where they had some ultrasonic rat deterrents. They were five times the price of the ones on Amazon, but had the advantage that you can plug them into a UK power socket. I’d rather scare the rats away than have to kill them.

Strangely the dogs don’t seen to deter them very much.

I came home. I plugged one of the ultrasonic thingies in the socket in the shed. I really need to figure out how to set one up in the garden. And I had a look at the gusher water feature. It is certainly running better now I’ve topped it up. I’ll wind the hose in tomorrow – the rain might have dried off of it by then. I’ll give the planks another coat of paint then as well – hopefully they will have dried too.

I made us both a cuppa and we had the last of the cake. Yesterday I said it was ginger cake. It wasn’t. It was golden syrup cake, and there’s no ginger in the ingredients. So why did I think it was ginger cake?

I wrote up some CPD and tried to get up quietly, but it was no good. Treacle was watching me like a hawk. She knew it was time to “FEED THE FISH”.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up dinner then went bowling. I settled on the sofa and started watching something new. “The Handmaid’s Tale” (on Amazon Prime). I’m two episodes in; so far, so good…

My back’s still giving me grief… I can sit still or I can walk about. It’s getting up and getting down that hurts…

12 May 2026 (Tuesday) - Before The Late Shift

There are several people who walk their dogs at five o’clock in the morning. There’s one dog which regularly comes up our road far too early barking like a thing possessed. It was that one which woke me this morning. I tried to get back to sleep, and dozed on and off until half past seven.

I made toast and had my usual look at the Internet. It was still there. The usual political arguing was completely missing from my Facebook feed this morning. Instead I had loads of postings for groups offering support to people with various bone marrow cancers, and quite a bit of “repent sinner!” bollox. As a lapsed Christian (I was once a Steward in the Methodist church), the entire Christian theology doesn’t stand up to any thought at all. *If* Jesus has already died in payment for my sins, why should I be up for eternal damnation? However I will make the observation that it is pointless to ask this question on a Facebook forum.

I Munzed, getting two Rover treats as I did, and took the dogs to the woods. Being pushed for time we went to Orlestone. There was a weird man in the car park. He seemed really creepy as he tried to stroke the dogs; I called them away.

We had a mostly good walk. It was a shame that Bailey ran amok, but she does that.

Yesterday we walked nearly seven miles; today it was just a shade over two.

We came home where “er indoors ^TM” was making herself a cuppa. She did me one, and then I cracked on in the garden. Yesterday I got three hypersonic rat deterrents (as they came in packs of three); overnight I had a stroke of genius as to where I might position one of them. And I got another coat of paint on my planks. I harvested a bumper crop of dog dung, and had a little look at the area round the plant pots vaguely planning for tomorrow.

I Wordled. Starting with “plank” I made rather hard work of it going through “cluck” and “click” before getting “clock” on the fourth attempt.

I set off to the late shift… and that was effectively it for the day. So often when on the late shift the day is done by the late morning.

13 May 2026 (Wednesday) - Gardening

I slept well, but again the dog that walks up our road at five o clock had another barking fit.

I made toast and had my usual look at the Internet. It was still there and was much the same as ever. Squabbles and trivia abounded as it does. The Prime Minister was facing ever more pressure to jack it all in for no reason that anyone could actually explain. I saw our local MP had expressed solidarity with the Prime Minister though. I was surprised at that. I was surprised that he actually took a stand one way or the other. I’ve mentioned before that having a Labour MP has turned out to be something of a disappointment.

I took the dogs up to the woods. With normal people dawdling at a snail’s pace along the path we usually take into the woods we took another one today, and walked a rather different route to our usual one. We met a couple of other dog walkers as we went, but each encounter passed off amicably (as it should). No one chased anything, no one rolled in anything. It was all rather uneventful which was probably for the best.

Just as we got home so the heavens opened.

I made us both a cuppa which we had with a “choco-break”. Have you ever had a “choco-break”? You can get them from Aldi – they are like a kit-kat but made from far better chocolate and are about half the price.

(£1.25 compared to £2.20).

And with the rain having stopped I cracked on in the garden. I stripped out all the stuff between the bathroom and the shed. There was quite a bit of stuff I could use to attempt to bodge the bottom of the fence between our garden and not-so-nice-next-door. I swept up, squirted round with the rat deterrent, and then the heavens opened again. I came in, Munzed and Wordled. “Again” gave me nothing, as did “slept”. With a third of my goes gone and not a single letter I scratched my head. “Brock” gave me an “o” even if it was in the wrong place. “Mommy” gave me two letters in the right place, and I got it on the fifth go with “dowdy”.

The rain stopped so I went back out. Leaving out the bits that might be useful I put the rest of the tat back between the bathroom and shed, and then started on the main business of the day. I stripped out all the tat outside the kitchen window and all the flower boxes. I shifted the old chewed sleeper blocks, swept and brushed, and got the new bricks and planks into place. And with the flower tubs back onto the new planking I got the pressure-washer out to give it all a good scrubbing.

The pressure washer was poggered.

I can remember it being problematical in the past, but in the past it always started working after I gave it a good clout. I gave it several good clouts but to no avail. Ho hum…

I did the best I could with a hose pipe and a yard brush.

Whilst I was at it I lifted the drain cover to have a look-see. The water level was higher than it might have been, and as I watched so a nappy floated by. I always though there were rules about what you chucked down a chodbin?

I then had a look at the pond. Yesterday “er indoors ^TM” spotted that the pond’s aerator pump had had it. I fiddled with it and changed the fuse, but it wasn’t having any of it. I could have taken the thing apart but the rain was starting again so I gave up, came in and watched a couple of episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a decent chili which went down with a bottle of the red stuff as we watched another couple of episodes of “The Orville”. I’ve been re-reading my diaries of nine years ago when I first saw the show and I was rather disparaging about it. I can’t remember the episodes at all, but they are rather good… this time round.

14 May 2026 (Thursday) - Back Still Hurts

That dog (someone else’s) was barking up the street again at five o’clock this morning, and once I’d nodded off again so “er indoors ^TM”’s alarm went off… even though she wasn’t going in to the office today.

I made toast and looked at the Internet as I do most mornings. This morning there was no end of bickering about Cranbrook of all places. Some landscape gardeners and a café down the place’s high street were coming in for a *lot* of criticism this morning. Both allegedly owed customers money… I suppose that seeing how going to court costs so much, naming and shaming is the only option open to most people; even though this presupposes that the accused have done anything to be named and shamed about.

I Munzed, and Wordled. Starting with “today” I eventually got “waver” on the last attempt.

I took the dogs up to the woods. As we drove the pundits on the radio were talking about how Angela Rayner has got her tax issues sorted and so can now make a bid for leadership of the Labour party. The Health Secretary is supposed to standing as a candidate, and there’s talk about Andy Burnham (the head honcho in Manchester) standing as well… if only he could get into parliament in the next few days.

We got to the woods where it was rather cold, but after a mile or so the sun came out. We walked about five and a half uneventful miles; just how I liked it. Mind you, again my watch and my phone disagreed on the exact distance. I wonder why they are always so much adrift; it’s not as though one or other of them takes a short cut.

Bailey did manage a roll in a turd at the last minute, so when we came home she had a bath.

I made us both a cuppa and got us both an Aldi kit-kat, then went out to the garden. I got about a quarter of the lawn mowed before the torrential rain hit. So much for mowing for today.

I put a load of washing in to scrub, then tried to renew my works car parking permit. Nothing is ever easy, it it? I marked eight pieces of trainee’s portfolio work.

And seeing the rain had stopped I went back outside to the garden.

I checked the fuse in the pressure washer. A new one made no difference; it remained poggered.

I got the poggered aerator pump out of the pond. That was easy enough. Getting the cable out took some doing as I’d buried it quite comprehensively. I had to shift quite a bit of the rockery and shingle, and my back wasn’t all that good to begin with.

I’ve now got to get rid of the pressure-washer and the aerator pump. I had a vague hope I could go to the tip at Tunbridge Wells after work tomorrow, but the tip closes at about the time I’d be finishing the early shift. That’s a nuisance.

I spent much of the afternoon sitting in front of the telly resting my poor back. In between resting I loaded and unloaded the washing machine and hung out shirts and jim-jams, and scrubbed and tumble-dried undercrackers. And I spent a little while sorting out yet another geocaching Adventure Lab series. I’d got another credit and so did another “Lost Pubs of Ashford” series. I’d actually got it all prepared some time ago, so the hard work part was already done. If you fancy having a go at it, just scan the 2-D barcode above.

“er indoors ^TM” sorted burgers and chips which we scoffed whilst watching last night’s episode of “Race Across the World”. I’m thinking I wouldn’t mind a trip to Mongolia. If only I wouldn’t miss the dogs so much…

15 May 2026 (Friday) - Early Shift

With an alarm set I was wide awake far too early this morning and watching an episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale” at five o’clock. Disappointingly the jubblies were flopped out in this morning’s episode. I say “disappointingly” because (for all that I am a fan of jubblies) their being flopped out in any TV series usually means the writers have run out of ideas.

As I watched I listened out for that dog which has come down the street barking at five o’clock every day this week. I was all set to go out and have a word, but this morning either they walked somewhere else, or they walked quietly.

I then had a little look at the Internet as I do. This morning I didn’t see a single advert for anything. That was rather odd. There was a petty squabble about some upcoming film in which Supergirl had pierced ears. For some people that really was a matter of the utmost importance.

I got dressed and set off to work.

I hobbled out to the car and set off west-wards through the -hursts and the -dens.  As I drove I listened to the pundits on the radio. The mayor of Manchester is looking set to jack in being mayor in favour of being Prime Minister. He's got a sitting MP to stand down for him... and in doing so has illustrated a strange procedural irregularity in our parliamentary system. If an MP jacks it in then there has to be a public election to replace them. However if the Prime Minister jacks it in then there's no public election. This isn't news; this is well established and has been going on for years. It's all a bit odd though. In practice it means that *if* Andy Burnham gets elected as an MP he can then get straight in to the top job pretty much right away. However there is a big "if". Where he's standing had a total Reform UK vote in last week’s council elections. I suspect he's going to fall at the first hurdle.

And there was an interview with the head honcho of the company that makes the Raspberry Pi computers. He was talking about delivery costs and plastic prices in such a way that if it all got too expensive then his company could just make ice cream or dog collars instead. For some people the profession isn't "insurance" or "teaching" or "baker" or "farrier" or "manufacturer". For some people the profession really is "making a profit", and how they make that profit is entirely secondary to what their company actually does. The chap was talking about "bleeding edge technology". I laughed at him for getting the phrase wrong. Surely he meant "leading edge technology". It turned out that I was wrong and he was right. "Bleeding edge technology" is a thing.

One lives and learns.

I stopped off at the Pembury Tesco to get a sandwich, and whilst I was at it a bag (or three) of dog treats for tomorrow's Dog Club. As always no one was operating the proper tills. I made a point of checking the self-service tills to make sure I got the meal deal bargain (which I did) but there was a minor hiccup with the dog treats. On the shelf the label said "three for three pounds" but the machine said it was three for three pounds fifty pence. Bearing in mind the squabble I'd had with them last Saturday I really couldn't be arsed to bicker.

There was also a potential issue with the self-service machine in that as I fed all my loose change into the machine I rather lost count. Looking back I'm sure it must be my mistake, but I couldn't help but feel that the machine took a quid too much. I've felt that before; next time I shall be more strict with my counting.

I got to work where I did the best I could with my dodgy back. Mind you the pain has moved into my right arse cheek.  I'm OK all the time I'm moving or still; it's getting up that hurts it. I managed to wangle a day at the microscope which was probably as much sitting still as is possible to do.

And at tea break in a novel break with tradition I had some of the hot chocolate. It was rather nicer than the coffee. I would have that more often... if it weren't about ten times the calories of a cup of coffee.

Being on an early I escaped early. Not early enough to do a tip run, but early enough to take a circuitous route home via Rolvenden’s World of Water where were having a sale. I got a half-price aerator pump, and a third-price grass carp. As long as the pump works and Morgan doesn’t eat the little fish, this will be a bargain.

And “er indoors ^TM” got a new bird feeder. Apparently this one doesn’t scatter seed everywhere… for the simple reason that the birds are terrified of it and are yet to actually feed from it.

16 May 2026 (Saturday) - Dog Club, Radio, Tip Run, Late Shift

I slept rather well; the alarm woke me this morning. That rarely happens. I made toast and had my usual look at the Internet. There were two bitter and nasty arguments this morning on Facebook. One on an advert about bird feeders and one about a pub I periodically drive past.

The RSPB has suggested that people don’t use bird feeders over the summer, and that has gone down like a lead balloon with those who make a living from selling bird feeders.

And the current leaseholder of The Peacock in Cranbrook has announced that he will not be renewing his lease, and that there isn’t anyone who looks keen to take over. There are those who were up in arms about another pub closing, but seriously? We had a pub lunch the other day. A meal and a couple of drinks cost over fifty quid. And we were in with the great unwashed. Who wants to spend good money to be in the pub next to me and my dogs? Every pub needs a hard core of customers who go regularly (daily) and hand copious amounts of money over the bar. And that’s the biggest problem that The Peacock in Cranbrook has. I say “in Cranbrook”; the local Facebook pages say it in Goudhurst… it’s actually mid-way between the two villages on a rather busy road with no way of getting there safely unless you drive.

I sent out birthday wishes to a Facebook friend. Twenty years ago she was one of my trainees. Her boyfriend of the time (now her husband) set himself up as a plumber… they now live in a rather nice mansion on the Kent-Sussex border.

If I had my time again…

I Munzed, and Wordled from “slept” to “mover” in four goes.

Steve was on the radio doing the “Guess the Lyrics” competition on the radio. “There were incidents and accidents”. I had no idea - it was You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon. Whilst I wracked my brain, “The Number One Song In Heaven” was playing on the radio; a very good choice…

We got ready for Dog Club.

Dog Club was good today. I tried counting several times. I don’t think there was over twenty dogs along but attendance was certainly in the high teens. All the dogs had a great time, and Bailey stood up for herself by picking on Phoenix. Phoenix is a rather loveable Australian sheep-dog who didn’t deserve to be picked on.

As we drove home Steve was doing the “Mystery Year” competition on the radio. In which year was the first Harry Potter film released? No? – 2001.

I then spent a few minutes getting rubbish into the car. The sleepers that the rats had chewed. The poggered water feature, the poggered pressure-washer. The Yard of Ale which seemed such a good idea at the time but just gathered dust and was impossible to clean. With Ashford’s tip still closed the obvious place and time to unload rubbish is the tip at Allington before a late shift. Rather amazingly I’d been able to book a space for this morning.

I set off to work sulking. As I have said so many times working in a hospital means I work early in the morning, late at night, weekends, bank holidays, and all night long. It goes with the territory. But I do resent working at the weekends when the sun is out. The weather was glorious as I left home.

Bearing in mind Radio Ashford's new DAB signal, I thought I'd listen to that on the way to work. Unfortunately the signal kept cutting out as I drove along Brookfield Road, but nil desperandum - I had a stroke of genius that it might be my car's radio that was at fault rather than the signal itself. So to prove a point I turned to Radio Four on the DAB. After a few seconds of their program I heard Steve's voice cutting across giving Radio Ashford's travel news. 

I think my car's DAB had had it. I shall get a new one...

Or to be more accurate I shall add it to the list of new things that I'd like to have. It's currently quite a long way down the list after various other new things including pants, deodorant, work shoes and a pressure washer. The FM band on the car radio works well enough though... I suspect the new DAB car radio will come with the new car... which I hope won't be for a little while.

I stopped off at the tip at Allington where once I'd dumped the rubbish I had a look round their tat shop. All of the half-way decent tat that goes to any of Kent's tips gets salvaged and put on sale in a little shop at the Allington tip. Paintings, glasses, furniture, lawnmowers, guitars, records... it was just like going back in time fifteen years to the tat shop that my mother-in-law used to run, or back in time fifty years to a Boys Brigade jumble sale. 

Sadly they didn't have any car DAB radios.

From there I went on to work and the late shift where I spent a while peering out the window in the rather selfish hope that it would rain. And I was rather pleased when it hossed down at three o'clock. I know that's mean of me, but there it is.  Having had to turn down the offer of an afternoon on the beer I really didn't want to be looking out of the window at an afternoon which would have been ideal for being on the beer.

I came home where “er indoors ^TM” had boiled up a rather good plate of fajitas which we scoffed whilst watching the end of the Eurovision Song Contest. (“er indoors ^TM” had seen it from the start). I can’t pretend to be a fan of Eurovision, but the entries from Lithuania and Norway were frankly dreadful. And I couldn’t help but wonder what were the Austrians thinking of?

In the end my vote was split between the Cypriot jubblies and the Romanian dominatrix lesbians.

Call me an old traditionalist if you will… 

17 May 2026 (Sunday) - Boughton Aluph to Wye (and back)

It was a rather late night last night as we watched the voting for the Eurovision Song Contest. My choice (the Romanian dominatrix lesbians) came in third. The winners (Bulgaria) had five hundred and sixteen points, while the UK came in last with just one point. Back in the day I would have said “We came in last” but I don’t feel any connection with what is supposed to be my country these days. Yesterday there was a “Unite the Nation” rally… it’s rather ironic that those who are loudest in advocating patriotism are those who make me ashamed to be British.

I didn’t get up till half past nine this morning. That was something of a result. I made toast and peered into Facebook as I do. Several friends were off on holidays. Dorset, Seattle, Spain… And there was a strange posting on one of the work-related groups. Someone had posted a photo of a blood film and had asked a multiple-choice question of what the salient features were. Amazingly everyone had got the answer right, and then at the bottom of the page I saw “Show Hidden Comments”. Apparently some comments were hidden because they may be “offensive, off-topic or spam”. I clicked to see the hidden comments. None were offensive, off-topic or spam. However all of the hidden comments were giving wrong answers.

I Munzed and Wordled from “night” to “bylaw” in four goes as two magpies argued in the garden. That didn’t bother the dogs much(!)

I looked at the weather forecasts. The BBC claimed there would be rain showers all day. The Met Office claimed it would be dry until early afternoon. We chose to go with the Met Office and took the dogs out for a walk.

We drove out to Boughton Aluph and walked along quiet lanes and footpaths to the church. The plan was then to go back to the car, but it wouldn’t be *that* far to go into Wye and the weather looked OK. So that’s what we did. It was a shame that Bailey had to roll in fox poo, but that’s the sort of dog she is.

We walked out to The Sawyers.  I once went there with my Fudge when the beer selection was amazing. Today they only had a couple of ales on, but the place was friendly. And we met Alan there. It was good to catch up.

From there we went on on to the Tickled Trout. It was a friendly enough place. It was rather pretty sitting by the river. But… Eighteen quid for a pint and a half and four bags of crisps? Seriously? The same had been ten quid cheaper not five minutes’ walk up the road.

From there we headed back to the car. It was a shame that “er indoors ^TM” dropped Treacle’s lead on the way back, and with lead retrieved it was another shame that Bailey had to run amok in a thicket, but there it is.

We got back to the car to find we’d covered six miles. I thought it would have been maybe three and a half.

We came home and with the sun still shining we had a pint and some crisps in the garden.

I took a few photos as we walked and sat and drank. I was so glad we’d not taken much notice of the weather forecast.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up pizza which we scoffed whilst watching another episode of “The Orville”.

I’m quite worn out; we’ve had a busy day…

18 May 2026 (Monday) - A Walk, Ironing, Stuff...

I slept rather well last night. Over brekkie I had my usual root around the internet and my piss boiled on one of the supposedly work-related Facebook pages in which people were talking about an incident on a cruise ship when a call went out for someone who knew their blood group so they could give a unit of blood to a fellow passenger.

Blood transfusions simply don’t work that way… unless it is your intention to kill someone. I was reminded of my days in scouting when a local group were going to Africa and the leader wanted to know everyone’s blood group so that he could know whose blood could go into who… He was serious. He’d done his research by reading up on Wikipedia (!) and I had to involve the Chief Scout and the British Blood Transfusion Society to dissuade him.

Here’s a tip… if you ever meet anyone using the phrase “universal donor” or “universal recipient” then you know for a fact that the person you’ve met knows absolutely nothing about blood transfusions.

And I saw that the Rother Valley brewery has closed down. They brewed “Level Best”, “Blues” and “Smild”; three of my favourite beers. It turns out the chap who ran the brewery is in his eighties and he’s had enough. I’m twenty years younger and I know the feeling.

I Munzed, and Wordled from “about” to “loath” in four goes.

I took the dogs out. I tuned the radio to Radio Four’s DAB channel, and again as I went past the Matalan roundabout and up Chart Road so Radio Ashford came over the top of it. Perhaps it’s an interference thing as it only happens in that location?

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the new head honcho at the BBC. Last week he was a big cheese at Google. I can’t see what transferrable skills a search engine company would have for a broadcaster, but this would seem to be how senior managers operate. Perhaps I might jack it all in and become a coastguard or a driving instructor?

We got to the woods where we met Nala. Nala was a rather lovable staffie who clearly wanted to join in with our group and come with us. She showed no inclination to go back to the rather angry looking thug who was screaming at her from across the field, and I can’t say I blamed her for that.

We walked a variation on our usual walk. I’m keen that we don’t do the same walk every time. Back in the day we got into a vicious circle with Fudge who got so used to the route we took that he wouldn’t walk any other route. And the route we took had to be the anticlockwise way round as well. He simply refused to walk anything different; I had to put his lead on him and drag him if we wanted a change.

As we walked so Bailey rolled in fox poo. Treacle thought the sink hole had dried out. It hadn’t; the stinking mud was belly deep. Morgan chased squirrels.

We went out having seen the weather forecast had been for showers. We walked about four and a half miles over an hour and a half and it was only when we got home that the rain hit.

The girls both had a bath. With soap. I then made us both a cuppa and looked at the rain. I did have a plan to sort the pond aerator pump I’d bought on Friday, but that could keep until the rain stopped. And with the lawn wet, mowing it would have been silly.

I put shirts in to wash, wrote up some CPD, and marked some trainee’s portfolio work. For all that the trainees put in a lot of effort I do think they miss out by not going on a day release and meeting up with other trainees and getting lectures from senior workplace staff in a university environment. Like I did.

I suppose that was rather expensive though.

After a couple of scones for lunch I did the ironing. A dull task, bit one that needed doing. As I ironed I watched a couple of episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” which featured her who was rather lesbidaceous in “Orange is the New Black”. And then with the rain having subsided I ran the hair trimmers over my head and did “FEED THE FISH”. I then topped up the new bird feeder. Sadly when the advert said “doesn’t scatter seed” what it actually meant was “scatters seed like a thing possessed”. We’ve ordered some seed trays, but having re-organised the area around the feeder last week it is now much easier to sweep up with a yard brush.

As I topped up the feeder so I could see the sparrows getting rather impatient, and the robin was on the feeder by the time I’d put the bulk supply of bird seed into the shed.

And then a blue tit came for some food. That was a result.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up fish and chips which we scoffed whilst watching “Richard Osman’s House of Games”. Have you ever watched it? It’s one of the better TV quiz shows which is sadly marred by the so-called celebrities who star in the show who are always oh-so-quick to proudly show off their ignorance.

“er indoors ^TM” then went bowling as she does went bowling as she does most Mondays. I made myself comfortable on the sofa and watched a couple more episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale”. The story doesn’t seem to be going anywhere…

19 May 2026 (Tuesday) - Early Shift

I was fast asleep when “er indoors ^TM” decided to have an argument with Bailey last night. Personally I can't see why Bailey can't go out into the garden every twenty minutes all through the night if she wants to... as long as I'm not disturbed about it.  I eventually nodded off again but woke in a sweat following a rather vivid nightmare in which an old friend had devised a money-making scheme. The idea was that by replacing lockers at swimming pools and sports centres with fridges, people's clothing would stay fresher for longer. I'm not sure how come I got the job of replacing the nation's lockers...

Finding myself wide awake at four o'clock I tried to get back to sleep, but it wasn't happening. I got up and as I made toast there was quite the procession of dogs wanting to go into the garden.

I scoffed toast whilst watching another episode of "The Handmaid's Tale" in which again not a lot seemed to happen. As I watched so that noisy dog came up the road... It was odd. The moment I heard its barking I charged outside to tell the owner to keep the noise down... and there was no one to be seen in the street. 

I got dressed and set off for work. This morning the DAB radio worked fine all the way from home to work. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about how the Scottish First Minister is planning to put a cap on the price of groceries. In theory it's a rather good idea. In practice if shopkeepers are forced to sell food without being able to make a profit then they aren't going to sell food, are they? It’s called market forces...

And there was talk about the Ebola epidemic in Africa. It was claimed that much of the problem was down to the locals not trusting proper medicine and preferring to use crackpot faith healers. You have to wonder why, when proper medicine works and crackpot faith healing doesn't.

I popped into Sainsburys to get lunch. I counted all my coins into the machine. As I did so the rather angry assistant glared at me. I don't see why it was such a big deal to her, but clearly it was.

And then I went in to work where a colleague had made fudge in honour of her birthday. It was rather good, and I'm reliably informed that it is quite easy to make. I might have a go.

The plan was that after work I would go to Bybrook Barn garden centre to have a look at a water feature I could hook up to the new aerator pump. I drove to the garden centre… and joined the queue of traffic at Sainsburys. After twenty minutes I’d travelled maybe twenty yards so I gave up and came home.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up sausages and we scoffed them whilst watching more of “The Orville”. I might have an early night… I’m worn out. Even if being at work my step count for today is only a third of what it was yesterday.

20 May 2026 (Wednesday) - Before the Late Shift

Back in January I mentioned that Forestry England were charging to park a car in Battle Great Wood. Last night Steve told me that Forestry England are going to start charging for parking in Kings Wood. Bearing in mind our average walk, and bearing in mind the cost of parking at Battle Great Wood that would set me back about thirty quid a month.

So I joined Forestry England which costs eight quid a month and gives me free parking. This morning as I scoffed my toast I saw that the tree huggers are contacting Forestry England to find out what the new parking charges will mean for them. I wonder if they are hoping for a discount. And quite a lot of locals were oh-so-happily showing off their ignorance about how the world works. Kings Wood is run by Forestry England. It is utterly and totally nothing at all to do with either the local council, the county council or any of the privately owned local building companies. But still those with single-digit IQs were ranting about how some vague “they” were planning to chase everyone out of the woods so that “they” could build more houses.

Building in those woods is an argument that was done to death twenty years ago.

I Wordled from “great” to “wreck” in three goes. I Munzed, opening two qrates and getting two more.

I went upstairs and got dressed maybe not as quietly as I might have done. I wanted to get a move on and everyone else needed to get up anyway.

With time shorter than usual I took the dogs to Orlestone. As we drove the pundits on the radio were saying that what with the Strait of Hormuz closed, Russian oil can now be bought… *if* it is first processed in another country. What’s that all about?

We got to the woods and walked a couple of miles. The dogs were well behaved; it was a shame that Bailey had to roll in fox poo, but there it is.

As we walked I ran the “Map My Walk” app. In January I accepted the challenge to walk one thousand kilometers over the year. I’m over half-way.

We came home where Bailey had a bath. With soap (!) I got changed and leaving “er indoors ^TM” and the dogs I set off to work a bit earlier than I might have done.  I'd looked at Google Maps and saw that to get to Whelans (in Sheerness) the quickest way was to go up the motorway. It was a shame that no-one had told Google that the Operation Brock stupidity was back in place. I drove the sixteen miles at seemingly a snail's pace stuck behind a rather wide static caravan which was taking up both lanes.

I can remember at last year's elections the Reform UK candidate was quite clear that under a Reform UK led county council, Operation Brock would be a thing of the past. Mind you they said the same about stopping the illegal immigration and sorting out the flooding at the Asda underpass, didn't they? You don't suppose that they just said that black was white and made all sorts of claims about which they would be utterly powerless to implement purely in order to get elected, do you?

I got to Whelan's. Yesterday I phoned the garden centre that I couldn't get to (because of the traffic) and found that the water feature fountain ornament that I wanted was far too expensive. I had this idea that Whelan's might have something at a much better price.

They did.

Whilst I was there I saw a rather nice little bird water bath thingy. I thought that I might get that as a little pressie for Karl and Tracy. I'd be driving past their house on the way to work so I thought that I could park up and using my ninja-like stealth I could sneak it into their garden, and then disappear like a shadow, leaving them scratching their heads in wonderment about where the new ornament had come from.

It was a good idea which was sadly thwarted by their motion-sensitive camera.

I need to work on my ninja-like stealth.

From there I went on to Aylesford Aquatics. Three years ago I slated the place on Google reviews and it hasn't got any better in the meantime. I had an idea I might get the hoses I need for my new water feature... Let's just say that I sighed and walked out, and leave it at that.

I then drove on to the petrol station at the nearby Sainsbury's where I got petrol and lunch. Getting lunch took some doing. I can't help but wonder if I was being thick... It turned out that despite every single food item being labelled as "meal deal", only certain items were actually in the meal deal. The woman behind the till felt that it was rather obvious what was and what wasn't in the deal, and seemed to think that the labelling was some sort of advertising or artwork. It certainly wasn't in any way intended to let people know what was and wasn't in the meal deal.

I sighed again.

I then went on to the late shift which was busier than I'd hoped. 

I’m not a fan of the late shifts…

21 May 2026 (Thursday) - Not On Any Shift

I rolled my eyes as I read Facebook this morning. Someone I know had posted about how Earth would "lose gravity" for seven seconds on Aug. 12, 2026 — leading to "40 million deaths from falls" among other cataclysmic outcomes. It was claimed that NASA knew all about this and was working on "Project Anchor" organising special preparations for this cosmic event.

However simply typing "Project Anchor" shows you that it is all a load of bollox. Why are people so quick to spread this drivel? Are they so stupid that they believe the conspiracy theories, or too lazy to take two seconds to do some fact checking?

And I was amazed to see that my MP had written to the Transport Secretary to complain about Operation Brock. Up till now he has been constantly kissing the government’s arse… clearly the Prime Minister’s shaky position has given him some courage.

I took the dogs out. As we drove the pundits on the radio were interviewing some idiot from OFCOM. Apparently kids are still accessing all sorts of things on the internet that they shouldn’t (including hard-core smut). The idiot being interviewed was adamant that the internet providers had been severely sanctioned… but when pushed she admitted that “severely sanctioned” was effectively a telling-off, and being asked not to do it again. The obvious answer would be to shut down the offending companies but that would go against the companies right to allow kids to access that which they shouldn’t.

I found myself reminded of some of my old schoolteachers. We actually liked and respected those who wielded the slipper (when they had to) and laughed at those who tried to reason with us.

We got to the woods. The other day I mentioned that I try to walk different routes… It occurred to me that no matter what route we walk, the last mile is always the same. So today we walked a very different route. As well as the usual shenanigans we chased a rabbit (it might have been a hare) and chewed a deer’s backbone.

As we walked I had my Map My Walk app running. I’ve mentioned how the thing disagrees with my watch about the distances we cover. Today it thought we’d walked half a mile less than what my watch said, and it thought we’d taken five minutes longer to do so.

It also has issues with its own timings. As I complete each mile it tells me how long I’ve been walking for, and how long it took me to cover the most recent walked mile. So in theory when I complete the first mile, the two times it announces should be identical. In practice they are *always* different. How does that work?.

Today we walked somewhere between five and a half and six miles. In that time we saw three other people, and all of those were within a couple of hundred yards of the car park.

With walk walked we came home where Bailey had a wash (with soap!). “er indoors ^TM” was having an office day so I just made myself a cuppa. I had an Aldi kit-kat with it. I like those – imagine a kit-kat but with good chocolate.

I Munzed, Wordled from “earth” to “agree” in three goes, then set the dishwasher going and had a look in the garden.

I mowed the lawn. I bionically burned the weeds. I had a little look at the new water feature thingy. I *think* I know how I might attach a water hose to it. I shall have a trip to the pond shops tomorrow. I marked some more trainee work, and then feeling rather worn out I made myself another cuppa and watched more of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

I had a little kip, then “er indoors ^TM” returned. As we scoffed dinner we watched the final of “Race Across the World”. Italy to Mongolia… it was quite a trip. I wouldn’t mind a guided tour round Mongolia if only I could be sure the dogs were looked after…

22 May 2026 (Friday) - Another Day Off

I ached a little this morning. What with one thing and another I covered seventeen thousand steps yesterday.

I made toast and had a look at the Internet and rolled my eyes. The county council has decreed that council meetings will now include saying the lord’s prayer and singing the national anthem. After a year of their being in power, despite what they assured me that they would do, Operation Brock is still in place, there’s more pot holes (and they are deeper), the boats full of immigrants are still coming, and the underpass down the road keeps flooding. But rather than sorting out that which needs sorting they’ve found a way to further divide the country.

Again the party which demands patriotism is the party that makes me ashamed of my country.

Interestingly our local councillor who was elected under the Reform UK ticket and went to the Restore Britain party was remarkably silent on the matter.

And I saw that Michael Keating (who played “Vila” in Blake’s Seven) died yesterday.

I Munzed, and Wordled from “ached” to “vocal” on the last go.

I took the dogs up to the woods. As we drove I saw her down the road who is always walking. I’ve seen her out before six in the morning and after eight at night. She just walks and walks.

We got to the woods and walked a shorter route than yesterday. I thought it would be about three miles; it was four and a bit. As we walked we met four other groups of dogs. And as is always the case, the way the meeting went was entirely down to the people and not the dogs. Three meetings were amiable and friendly. The fourth involved some stupid woman trying to wrestle two boxer dogs into a hedge whilst muttering curses. I didn’t actually tell her to get stuffed, but it was close. We’ve met her before; in the past she’s demanded that we turn round and go back as the path isn’t wide enough for her to get past with loads of space. Other dog walkers have told me that they’ve reported her to the dog warden… not that I imagine the dog warden would want to get involved.

On the plus side Bailey didn’t smother herself in fox muck.

I came home, made up both a cuppa then went shopping. On Wednesday when I saw Karl he spotted that one of my car tyres was past its best. I drove round to Kwik-Fit who couldn’t even look at my car until late afternoon. I drove on down the road to Elite Garages where the nice man had a look at the iffy tyre. He agreed that it was iffy, and he pointed out that two other tyres were also iffy (to say the least). He said that he’d got some work on, but that he could sort it all in half an hour’s time. I sat and waited…

After an hour I saw my car driving off. That was a tad worrying, but it was the test drive.

The nice man came back. New tyres all round, wheel alignments and a bill for three hundred quid. Bearing in mind that Kwik-Fit’s website had quoted me two hundred quid per tyre I saw that as a result. It certainly pays to shop around.

Whilst I was there I inadvertently caused a minor squabble amongst the staff. I asked what was going to happen to the old tyres, and if they were just going to be thrown away, could I have three of them for a little garden project. One of the mechanics announced that he regularly uses old tyres for projects in his garden, and the other mechanics seemed to be rather miffed that no one had told them about recycling used tyres as garden ornaments.

From there I drove round to Bybrook Barn garden centre for the hose for my aerator water feature thingy. Three metres of hose at one pound forty-nine pence per metre and a joining attachment costing one pound fifty shouldn’t cost just over nineteen quid, should it? (Have I ever mentioned that I’ve got a degree in mathematics?) Eventually I persuaded them that the bill should be just under six quid.

I came home. Eventually. Seeing the roads through the town were gridlocked I tried to come home through Chart road only to find it was equally bunged up.

By the time I got home and had unloaded my hose and used tyres I was rather worn out, and it was rather warm outside. I came inside and had a little look on-line at plans for making a little (well, not so little) wishing well. I then wrote up some CPD then announced that I was going to “FEED THE FISH”.

And whilst I was at the pond I rigged the hose I’d bought to the new water feature, then set the thing up and tested it. It all worked fine, which was something of a relief. I’ve now got to lift rocks and slabs and move shingle to bury the cable… but that is a job in itself. I’ll do that at some point over the weekend. And while I’m at it I shall have a think about the base of the fish ornament. The wooden base doesn’t look quite right.

“er indoors ^TM” went off to collect her car. She’d had some bodywork done on her car today. And once she was home she boiled up a very good bit of dinner which we scoffed whilst watching another episode of “The Orville” and “Race Across the World – The Reunion”.

For all that it would be hard work, I’m rather tempted to apply for the next series of the show. All I need is a team-mate to do all the brainwork as we race.

I still ache… compared to yesterday today was rather lazy – I haven’t cleared fourteen thousand steps.

Oh – and today is World Goth Day…

23 May 2026 (Saturday) - Dog Club, Badlesmere, Pub, Hot

I spent much of the night hanging off the edge of the bed; if only the dogs would give me some space.

I got up and let the dogs out for a tiddle. Morgan has taken to peeing up my pile of tyres; I wish he wouldn’t. I made toast and had a look at the Internet. There was a passive-aggressive post on the Dog Club Facebook page. It’s going to be too hot for the bigger dogs today (apparently) so could we (I) rearrange the meeting times to the evenings. I sighed. No, I can’t. Meeting at nine o’clock suits me personally. It might be a tad warm right now, but there is plenty of shade, and if we bring some water along the dogs would be fine.

So many people in so many walks of life suggest “why don’t we…” when what they quite openly mean is “why don’t you…”

As I scoffed toast so Bailey sat on the sofa next to me scoffing her brekkie. She is getting fussier and fussier about eating. And Steve was on the radio doing the “Guess the Lyrics” competition:. “I hear your name whispered on the wind. It’s a sound that makes me cry”. I had no idea. It was Boy Meets Girl - Waiting For A Star To Fall from 1988.

I Munzed, Wordled from “night” to “chuck” in three goes, and we got ready for the day.

We drove round to Repton and Dog Club. For all the talk about how hot it was going to be we had fourteen dogs along. We stood in the shade, there was plenty of water for the dogs, and far more got splashed than ever got drunk.

As we drove off so Steve was doing the Mystery Year on the radio. I got it with the first record I heard. 10cc – Good Morning Judge. I can remember that being played at the Miller’s Arms just down the road from where I used to live during the celebration party for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.

We drove up to Badlesmere where we met Karl and Tracey. They’d had reports of issues on their geocaches in the area so we joined them for a little walk. Some of the geocaches had issues, some didn’t. None had issues that those reporting them couldn’t have put right in less time than it took to report the issue.

And with walk walked we adjourned to the pub. Usually we would have gone to the Red Lion in Badlesmere, but that place has more and more specialised in being gluten-free. Which is all very well if you want a gluten-free meal, but it can be rather restrictive, and leave you with a menu of only half a dozen meals.

Instead we drove a mile or so down the road to the Wagon and Horses  where we sat in the garden and had a few beers and a rather good bit of dinner. A starter of olives with bread and oils and vinegar. A cheese ploughman’s. Three pints of ale and a couple of gin and tonics. It was rather good to catch up and have an afternoon in the pub garden. And the dogs were rather well behaved too.

We came home. The plan was to sit in the garden, but I was a tad heavy-handed with one of the chairs. After a while I gave up trying to mend it nicely, and brute force put the thing back together again.

I woke up a couple of hours later.

We got out the Infinity Table and played a few rounds of “Ticket to Ride”. I got my highest ever score (three hundred and twenty-five) and my lowest (twenty-one).

24 May 2026 (Sunday) - The Heatwave Continues

It’s a bit hot at the moment, and as is always the case when it is hot, those who haven’t got dogs and who know nothing about dogs are banging the canine welfare drum. Their latest idea is that dogs should be walked before eight o’clock in the morning… I was up for a mission to Kings Wood at five o’clock this morning, but no one else was. I tried to get back to sleep, but again I had limited space in which to try to sleep.

I got up and made toast. There was some half-witted anti-vaxxer posting drivel on Brian Cox’s Facebook page. It amazes me that these idiots don’t think it is at all possible that people who’ve studied something at post-graduate level for many years might (just possibly) know a little more than someone who has misunderstood a factually incorrect You-Tube video presented by someone who is making it up as they are going along.

These ones are allowed to vote, you know.

I looked at the monthly accounts. Bearing in mind in the last couple of days I’d suddenly had to re-tyre my car and shell out for bodywork on the “er indoors ^TM” – mobile I could have been a whole lot worse off. But as always I did the monthly accounts with a sense of “I want more”.

I Munzed. Our guild has reached Level Two, which was a result. I Wordled from “about” to “niece” in five goes. I got dressed. I did have a vague plan to go up to the county show at the Detling showground… but I’ve been there before. It is incredibly easy to end up buying a whole load of stuff that you neither need nor want, and which you can get cheaper on Amazon anyway. And the weather forecast was for a hotter day than yesterday… apparently the temperature went over thirty degrees in Frittenden yesterday and that’s only half an hour’s drive away.

So as “er indoors ^TM” went shopping I went into the garden…

It occurred to me that when I built the boxes in which I store spare decorative stones I’d built them off of the floor so that the bottom wouldn’t get wet. But that made a little hidey-hole for rats and mice. So I took that all apart and re-built it all flat to the floor.

I then lifted some of the rockery and seemingly a ton of shingle so that I could bury the cable powering the new aerator pump thingy. I put up another garden ornament and then “er indoors ^TM” came home from shopping and made us a cuppa. I took her into the garden to see what I’d done… and this is why I hate gardening. After two hours struggling in the heat it really did look just the same as it did when I’d started.

We then went back into the garden. “er indoors ^TM” craft club has had her setting things in resin and so that’s what she did. I got out those of the ceramic paints that hadn’t dried out and painted up some of the garden ornaments. It kept us both occupied.

“er indoors ^TM” sorted a rather good ploughman’s for lunch, and then I read my Kindle for a bit whilst listening to the antics of the neighbours. Nice-next-door had set up a large paddling pool, and together with some mates she was having something of a cocktail afternoon. She’s a good ’un… from what I remember she’s the seventeenth neighbour in that house since we moved in (in Autumn 1991), has been there the longest, and is far and away the best neighbour we’ve ever had.

The other side was getting her roof fixed. It has had a tarpaulin covering it for some months. Whilst she made a point of ignoring me, the chap doing the work seemed civil enough. But I did find myself wondering just who would come out to do roof repairs at a bank holiday weekend (especially as she is continually pleading poverty).

I had a vague idea to take the dogs to Orlestone in the early evening, but the temperature was still in the mid-twenties. Instead I ran the hose pipe out and gave the plants a dousing.

We had pulled pork burgers, and another evening on the Infinity Table – I lost four games, but won one. Go me…

25 May 2026 (Monday) - Hot Bank Holiday

It was a very hot night last night. I was dozing listening to Treacle’s panting at half past six when she jumped up and was sick. By the time I’d sorted that I was wide awake.

I got up and put a load of washing in to scrub. I could get it dry on the line before the strange fellow two doors down would have sparked up his barby. He’s an odd fellow; he’s often in the back garden making strange squeaking squawking noises, and has a barbecue going several times a week all year long.

I made toast and peered into the Internet. Even though it was a Bank Holiday people were still squabbling. There was a vicious argument raging about Brexit. Personally I never understood why so many people felt it was utterly unacceptable to live under the edicts of one committee the members of which they would never meet, and that it was far preferable to live under the edicts of another committee the members of which they would also never meet. The only difference between the two committees being that all of the members of one of them lived on the same island. I *really* have as much in common with people from Manchester and Sunderland as I do with people from Milan and Barcelona. But what do I know? Two world cups and one world war, eh? Ing-Ur-Lund!!!  But ten years have passed and it is all done and dusted with the whole Brexit thing. It’s now history, Why is Brexit still an issue for many?

And there was a rather bitter quarrel about which was the oldest active geocache in Virginia. Does it really matter?

I Munzed, Wordled from “night” to “visit” in four goes, the went to the garden. I had planned to take the dogs to Orlestone Woods and then on to Hamstreet garden centre, but it was too hot. Instead I set a table up in the shade, and as “er indoors ^TM” washed the carpets so I carried on painting garden ornaments.

I read my Kindle, I had a little sleep. We had a very good ploughman’s lunch, and Chris and Martin joined us for the afternoon. We put the world to rights, and got out the 3-D Blokus. Blokus is challenging enough when it is flat and on a board. But with three-dimensional shapes making geometrical figures, my poor brain was seriously strained. 

We had quiche and chips for dinner which we scoffed whilst watching an episode of “The Orville”…

Today was the hottest day of the year so far, and te hottest May Bank Holiday on record. It’s supposed to be even hotter tomorrow…

26 May 2026 (Tuesday) - Still Too Hot

It was rather hot last night. Again being wide awake far too early I could either lay there awake, or get up. I got up and watched an episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale” which had had me thinking quite a bit. Have you seen the show? It portrays a rather dystopian future in which effectively most people in society are slaves living in subservience to a small minority. They do as they are told and are looked after.

Is this a bad thing?

Seriously… look at today’s society as exemplified by my morning’s Facebook feed.  Climate change deniers, anti-vaxxers, people who phoning 999 because of problems with their drain… Basing their life choices on their misunderstandings of a factually incorrect You-Tube video presented by someone who was making things up as he went along…

So many people are clearly incredibly stupid. Is allowing them a say in the running of society *really* a sensible thing to do?

I set off to work. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about “financial irregularities” at the Scottish Nationalist Party where an ex-chief executive was caught with his hand in the till. Everyone else who was in any position of authority at the time was very publicly trying to distance themselves from the matter.

Well they would, wouldn’t they.

And there was a lot of talk about the organised shooting of pheasants and other game birds. Apparently organisers of these events are legally allowed to shoot any crows and magpies that might be in the area. They aren’t allowed to shoot, trap or poison birds of prey, but it would seem they are doing so anyway. Amazingly anyone can set themselves up organising game bird shooting; there’s precious little legislation or control of the activity. And presumably a lot of profit to be made; hence all the birds that might affect the business getting blown away.

I got to work and had a rather busy day. I’d parked where the car would be in the shade all day, but it was still thirty-four degrees as I set off homewards. Apparently today beat yesterday’s record and was the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures a degree higher than the works car park reported at Kew and Heathrow.

I came home with a vague plan to take the dogs out, but it was still five degrees hotter than the warmest that I like to take them out in. Instead I watered the garden and fed the fish.

We had a rather good bit of dinner which we devoured whilst watching another episode of “The Orville”. It’s not a bad show but I would enjoy is so much more if the ship wasn’t captained by the dog from “Family Guy”.

I’ve another day at work tomorrow….

27 May 2026 (Wednesday) - Late Shift

As I scoffed my toast I saw photos of a friend having a beach holiday, and another friend travelling across the Canadian Rockies. There were a few fun posts like that today. There were photos of cats, there were photos of people geocaching… That’s what I want to see on my morning Facebook feed as I am a very nosy person.

And then there was an advert on Facebook from Oxfam reminding the word that the conflict in Gaza is still ongoing. I don’t want to appear cynical, but the public’s attention span for any given war is rather short, isn’t it? The media were all over the war in Ukraine until it all kicked off (this time) in Gaza. And then that was headline news until President Trump went and picked a fight with the Iranians. And that will be forgotten about when the next one starts. Type “how many wars are going on right now” into Google. It reckons there are over a hundred. People just want to argue, don’t they? And as is always the case it is rarely those with the argument who actually suffer.

And people were up in arms about the hospice near work which is in financial difficulties. Here’s a thought. Don’t buy their hospice lottery tickets. Don’t donate to them. Don’t go in teir charity shop. If the public stops supporting them then the government (of whatever party) would have to fund the place properly. Look at the state some schools are in with them being dependent on charity hand-outs to pay for text books.

I Munzed; our Guild has reached the last of our monthly targets. And then I went and kicked “er indoors ^TM” and the dogs out of bed. We drove to Orlestone for a shorter walk in the shade. We got there and saw about a dozen cars in the car park, and as always there were people sitting in the cars. Just sitting there. You’d think they’d get out and go for a bit of a walk, wouldn’t you?

We walked our usual walk. We saw a dog running about on his own about a quarter of the way round, but other than that we didn’t meet anyone else until we were twenty yards from the car park. As we walked Morgan tried to roll in some muck, but it was bone-dry muck. About two minutes from the end of the walk Treacle jumped in a huge puddle. I wish she wouldn’t. The trouble with that puddle is that we have a choice with our circular walk. It can either end with going past that big puddle or we go past the puddle first and end up with going up a steep hill.

It was good to get out; what with the ongoing heatwave it has been four days since our last walk. When we left home the car’s thermometer said it was nineteen degrees. We walked in the shade and I took water for the dogs, but Treacle did seem to struggle a bit.

It was twenty-two degrees when we got back to the car.

We drove home listening to the pundits on the radio talking about how the government is lowering VAT on tickets to theme parks over the summer. At first sight this seemed like a good thing, reducing the price of a ticket by about a tenner, but these theme parks are already operating at capacity. You might get a cheaper ticket, but you will have a longer wait. And (it was claimed) that there was no guarantee that you would get a cheaper ticket. When VAT on e-books was scrapped the price of e-books stayed the same; the publishers just pocketed the profit.

I made us both a cuppa, wrote up some CPD, tidied up in the garden, and got ready for work. And again when on the late shift the day was effectively over before noon.

28 May 2026 (Thursday) - A Day Off (!)

I slept well. As I scoffed toast my Facebook feed had a few mentions of The Peacock; the pub I mentioned the other day.  It has now closed. I drove past it on the way home last night and saw no lights on. I also drove past the Bull in Bethersden last night and saw that was in darkness too. It closed at the end of last month. Both pubs had been going for (literally) hundreds of years but both have closed for want of anyone who feels they can make a living from running the place. As I’ve said so many times, sadly the day of the pub is over…

I got the dogs onto their leads and we went out with this plan to beat the heat. As we drove the pundits on the radio were interviewing a couple of people about the junior doctors ongoing pay strikes. One of them had me confused… she was incensed that there are more applicants for junior doctor posts then there are actual posts, and so not every junior doctor gets a job.

But isn’t this how the job market works? There’s more applicants than posts so that the ones who aren’t any good at the job don’t get appointed and so have to try a different line of work to which they might be more suited? Not everyone qualifying as a doctor is going to necessarily be any good at it, are they? I can remember helping with a bone marrow aspiration in one of the wards at the (now bulldozed) St Helen’s hospital in Hastings when another patient died (nothing to do with what I was doing!). The junior doctor looking after the patient (who’d been in post only a few days) went hysterical, said she couldn’t cope with that sort of thing, and resigned on the spot. A chap with whom I went to school qualified as a doctor… and went straight into medical sales. And what about Harry Hill and Graeme Garden?

The other chap being interviewed shouldn’t have even been on the radio. He would say half a sentence and then stop and start again, and then stop and start again. He never actually said anything. As I’ve said before, the producers of Radio Four need to vet their interviewees a bit more closely.

We go to the woods and parked in the shade. As we walked we met some woman with a couple of dogs on epically long leads. She said she was a dog walker and didn’t trust the dogs to come back when called. Her dogs joined in with Morgan and Bailey playing a lovely game of chase… oh, you’ve never seen a tangle like it.

We walked mostly our usual route, but took a bit of a diversion at the end so we could stay in the shade; it was warm and Treacle seemed to be struggling with the heat. A couple of times I wondered if we should have stayed at home, and then Treacle was off at top speed chasing squirrels.

We came home for a cuppa and a bit of Swiss roll. I Munzed and opened a qrate. I Wordled from “slept” to “divot” in four goes, then went up to town. I’d had an email from the bank saying they’d sent me a message. I eventually found a pdf file about their having archived a bank account of mine, and said I could go into the branch to talk to them about it…

I went into the bank, and the nice man was very helpful. He’s suggested I might talk to a financial advisor. I might just do that.

Being under orders to bring some lunch home I had a look at the artisanal bakery stall in the town centre. And then I had a look in Tesco. Tesco had stuff a third bigger and a third cheaper, and which hadn’t been out in the sunshine for several hours. I got a pecan plait and a croissant from Tesco and saved myself a quid or so.

I came home having had a little look round the town as I walked. I rarely go into town these days, and when I do so much has changed. And there’s a definite theme to the change. The sort of shops that sell stuff that which you can buy on-line are going. Stuff which sells perishables (like little groceries do), hairdressers, and nail bars seem to be a growth industry. I must have seen a dozen new nail bars today; all of which were full. I’m told that getting your nails done costs the thick end of thirty quid.

We had our pastries with a cuppa, then I spent a little while tidying up in the garden. Pulling the green weed out of the little pond, kicking the shingle back into place, gathering dog dung, trimming back the dead leaves… an hour’s fiddling about at the end of which the garden looked just the same as it had when I started and I was a bit hot.

We came in and I marked more trainee’s work, and wrote up some CPD, and watched another episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

Seeing how by then it had cooled down a little I did “FEED THE FISH”, then fiddled about with the aerator pump to get the water coming out of fish thingy to come with a bit more wallop, then watered all round. I had a look down the drain… it’s running better than it has been, but not as well as it might. Ideally I’d get the nice water board man out, but we don’t need the smell of turds stirring up in this heat.

I then got the shears out to give myself a haircut… and saw the cable of the trimmer had broken. I got this one four and a half years ago… I rather thought it might have lasted longer. I’ve ordered another one from Amazon which should arrive tomorrow. Bearing in mind how much the local barber charges for a short back and slap, after the second time I use it I will be in profit. And whilst I was at it, I got a pair of slippers too…

The postie arrived with some solar powered phone chargers that “er indoors ^TM” had ordered. In a novel break with tradition I read the instructions and was rather amazed to see that I should ideally charge the thing from the mains as much as possible; despite the name, the solar panel is just an emergency back-up. And I shouldn’t charge it anywhere near anything flammable in case it blows up.

Oh well… I expect it will go the way of every other phone charger in that I will lose it within a week.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up chicken and chips which we scoffed whilst watching an episode of “The Orville”. Both were rather good. And then there was a bowl of strawberries and cream for afters…

Yesterday was dull. Today was seemingly non-stop (I walked three times more steps than I did yesterday).

I’m going to work for another rest tomorrow.

29 May 2026 (Friday) - Before Another Late Shift

Again I managed to sleep through until after seven o’clock. Maybe laying on the bed rather than under the duvet is the trick?

I got up, made toast and peered into a calm Internet. No one was arguing. There were photos from people on holiday in Canada and Alaska, there were photos of people’s garden ponds. I sent birthday wishes to my cousin, then went and woke “er indoors ^TM” and the dogs.

As they had brekkie I Wordled from “games” to “clang” in three goes, then took the dogs out. As I drove I listened to the pundits on the radio interviewing the Minister for Something-Or-Other. Yesterday I whinged about the quality of interviewee. Today I shall whinge about the quality of interviewer. The interviewer would ask a question and before the poor Minister for Something-Or-Other could say more than two words so another question would be thrown at him. He never actually got to say anything, and he did whinge about it a couple of times. All in all, it was rather a waste of air-time.

We went to Orlestone for our walk today. On Wednesday the car park was heaving; today there were only three other cars. We walked a couple of miles and didn’t see anyone. As we walked we found a dead mouse, and once the dogs had all rolled in it there was a minor squabble about who got to eat it. Bailey ran amok and came back covered in fox poo. Treacle found a surprisingly rancid and still wet swamp.

We came home for a bath. And with dogs scrubbed I made a cuppa for “er indoors ^TM” and me. I looked at booking a slot at the newly-opened tip to get rid of a load of rotten timbers, but there were no slots available. I suppose I could have tried the tip in Allington (as it’s not *that* much of a detour on the way to work) but I couldn’t be bothered.

I went to work via Sainsbury’s where my piss boiled. As I stood in the queue for the till there was an elderly couple in front of me. They’d got about a third of their shopping then joined the queue. Whilst the old dear stood, the old bloke was shuffling round the shop, periodically coming back with bits and bobs he would add to their trolley. But he kept going here and there collecting more shopping even when their stuff was going through the till, and had the right hump when his wife told him that he was being unreasonable to expect me and others to wait for him when we’d gone and got all our shopping *before* joining the queue.

Is it just me who attracts these idiots.

Work was work, but the evening was rather hard work. It can be sometimes…

30 May 2026 (Saturday) - Dog Club then Work

I went back to normality last night by waking far too early, Five o’clock, which was rather good compared to some nights, but still two hours too early. I dozed fitfully before finally getting up at seven o’clock. I made toast and peered into the Internet. There was a squabble on Hastings Old Town’s Facebook page. Some chap who seemingly has never travelled more than half an hour’s drive from the place has set himself up as “The Good Food Hunter UK” and has taken to reviewing local cafes. As is always the case, these reviews are only ever welcomed when they are glowing.

There was also a cryptic post which seemed to imply that the Peacock pub in Cranbrook was to re-open. It would be good if it could… but having only ever visited the place twice myself I’m hardly in any position to help them with my custom.

And Robert Jenrick was trying to stir the sh*t. Apparently the First Lady of Sierra Leone had rented a flat from Southward Council when she had no right to. Obviously with no end of people on waiting lists, this should never have happened. But who was the Secretary of State for Housing a year after this woman took the lease? Oh… it was Robert Jenrick.

One thing about which we need to be acutely aware is that much of that with which the Reform UK party politicians are finding fault are issues that they themselves allowed and/or caused when they were Conservative party politicians. They are for the most part the very same people.

Steve was on the radio doing the “Guess the Lyrics” competition. “Lifeboat lies lost at sea, I’ve been trying to reach your shore”. No – I had no idea either. It was Level 42 – Lessons in Love.

I Wordled from “early” to “smile” in four goes. I Munzed. We got ready for Dog Club.

Dog Club was rather good. We had a dozen (or more) dogs along and the usual mayhem ensued. It’s a shame that Treacle is so grumpy, but there it is.

From Dog Club I went to work. As I drove Steve was doing the Mystery Year competition. “Terry and June” first aired, as did “Minder”. E.L.O.’s “Shine a Little Love” and Abba’s "Does Your Mother Know" … 1979. For all that people rave about the music of the eighties, the late seventies weren’t too shabby. Even if they seemed rather hard work at the time.

As I drove up the motorway the radio signal was iffy. I realized I’d had the radio on the DAB band all week. Last week I was whinging about DAB radio; it had been fine all week. For some odd reason it definitely plays up at the weekends. I wonder why?

I got to work. As I have said many times I wouldn’t recommend working anywhere that never puts up a “closed” sign, but we had something of a minor hiccup. Bearing in mind how I was treated where I used to work, it is rather good to be asked to help. I got stuck in and did my bit.

The DAB signal was fine on Radio Four as I drove home…

“er indoors ^TM” sorted dinner which we scoffed whilst playing a few games of “Ticket to Ride” which (amazingly) I won by four games to three…

31 May 2026 (Sunday) - Lazy Day

Being wide awake at half past five I put the washing machine on, and having got up and done something I then went back to sleep for a couple more hours. When I got up I had a rather bad backache; I wonder what set that off?

I hung out the washing, made toast and looked at the Internet. Yesterday when I was at work “er indoors ^TM” hid a geocache in Boughton Aluph. This morning I got an email telling me that it (and others locally) had gone live at seven o’clock this morning. There’s a chap who lives up the road who seems obsessed with being the first one to get to any new geocache. He found “er indoors ^TM”’s one within an hour of it being published. Having found that one five miles away in Boughton Aluph whilst I was asleep, he took a couple of minutes to get back to the car, had a twenty minute drive down some incredibly narrow country lanes where he found another new one at Charing. And then got the hat trick by driving on to Pluckley where he found his third one. For an encore he got two more in Tenterden and was on his way home before ten o’clock on a Sunday morning…

Each to their own I suppose…

There was an interesting squabble on one of the pond-related Facebook pages that I follow. It was claimed that your water bill is only payable on water that then goes back down the drains and sewers, and consequently any water that goes into a garden pond is free. It was claimed that you could set up a water meter on your garden hose to measure how much water goes into your garden ponds and claim a refund.

Can You? I don’t know. I’m not even on a water meter so it’s no skin off my nose, but you should have seen the bickering this suggestion provoked.

I Munzed, Wordled from “water” to “etude”. “Etude” !!! After “teeth” and “elite” I knew I had et—e and looked up what five letter words might fit. There was only one. Apparently it is a short piece of music. One lives and learns.

“er indoors ^TM” went to brekkie with friends. I stayed home and pootled. I sorted undercrackers, pulled weeds from flower pots, cleaned out the fish tank filter, cleaned out the small pond filter, swept round, gathered dog turds (four times!). By the time “er indoors ^TM” came hone I was worn out.

“My Boy ^TM” and ”Auntie Chel ^TM” popped in. They’d been tree shopping at B&Q and looking at materials for making a pergola for their garden. We had a rather good bit of dinner and put the world to rights.

When they went I then ran the hose out to top up the big pond, and whilst I was at it I cleaned out the pond’s filter. It is *so* much easier to clean the pressure filter than the old box filter that we used to have,

I had a little kip. I’d far rather sleep during the night than during the afternoon, but there it is.

I’ve had a rather lazy day today… not a bad thing occasionally.