Week 795

Sunday, 17th March, 2024

Another grey, wet day began as one of mourning. Death of an old and long-loved friend was announced at 5.45 am.

Not bad for 25 years old.

I bought my bedside clock-radio-alarm almost 25 years ago in Huddersfield. It has been with me through good and bad times, through happiness and sadness and looked after me throughout. The news addict that I am, I value this service more than anything else. On automatically at 5.45 am (Why waste the day?) and off at 7.00 am when I get up.

It introduces me to, prepares me for and gets up ready for the coming day. It got me up for work in the early days and kept me up to date with Farming Today (You’d be surprised how interesting that is. Margaret Thatcher was a fan.). I am an expert on Badger Culling, Slurry Spreading, Crop Rotation and Tractor Maintenance.

Just before the Today Programme starts, there is always Tweet of the Day in which someone features the song of a different bird each morning. The Today programme has been with me since the 1960s, since the late, great Jack de Manio and Brian Redhead.

New York – March 17th, 2022 – St Patrick’s Day

Today, of course, is St Patrick’s Day. It doesn’t mean anything to me other than it reminds me of two years ago today when we were in Midtown Manhattan, New York City just as the parade began to start its route through the city. It was an interesting week.

My clock radio has died before and this time I really though it was terminal. I’m pleased and very relieved to announce that I have managed to resurrect it once again. The news is less good of a young man from our past. It had been announced this morning that Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel has died of cancer at the age of …. 73. The silent drip, drip, drip of our time continues continuously …..

Monday, 18th March, 2024

Well into the second half of March and at least the day is warm and dry with patchy sunshine. The clocks go forward in two weeks and the world will be hurtling towards Summer. Our ‘village’ is decidedly Spring-like with flowers and blossom all around. It’s also rampant with new house developments that have enraged the longer standing village residents.

Angmering Village

March is traditionally time for a revival of the housing market. We didn’t really see much down time. We are not NIMBYs. We are comers-in ourselves and didn’t buy for the qualities of a quaint, old village setting.

Over 2000 new homes have been built or started in the 7 years since we arrived. Above is just one, David Wilson development which is in process at the moment. When we moved here, every inch of the area in the above photo was green fields with trees and hedgerows, soon it will be completely covered in residences.

The demand for these homes is fuelled by commutability to London via the rail network and the motorways system, but is also marketed through its proximity to the coast and the Sussex Downs for walking. Sometimes it is hard to imagine that there are enough people to buy these homes within travelling distance to their work from here. If you work on an average of 3 people per household, about 6000 new people have arrived here over 7 years with at least 2000 extra cars.

The demand for new houses has driven up the prices considerably. Starting prices for ‘quality’, 2 bed first homes opens at around £360,000 and a 4 bed home will begin at £700,000. It always makes me laugh when we broke the bank 40 years ago in 1984 to buy a 4 bedroom stone built house in an acre of land in Helme for £74,000. We really thought we had arrived. Now, most people who are buying a similar house without land are paying 10 x that price before kitting it out.

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Week 794

Sunday, 10th March, 2024

Pleasant, soft day of calm. You could almost think it was a Sunday. Things are so far gone that we have both forgotten Mothers’ Day. I struggle to remember, feel sentimental about the loss nowadays. I know, it says more about me but just being honest.

I have one job and one job only. I have to copy our old phones to our new phones and then the trouble starts. If you have never had to do this, you won’t understand but it is a nightmare!

When I swap Apple iPads, the copy across is easy and straightforward but I’ve been invested in Android phones for twenty years and I enjoy my Samsung phones, watches, etc so I am persevering. Today, with two, new phones, I am copying apps and data so that our lives continue seamlessly. Or not.

The watches that rule our lives ….

I keep all my texts back over the past 5 years, my social media connections and they are important to me. They copied across perfectly. Whatsapp messages copied across. Eventually, it all came down to Pauline’s smartwatch which gave me trouble. It took two hours before her data flooded into the phone and all was well. I don’t know why I put myself through it. I sent out Whatsapps and got successful replies. I sent out texts and got some successful replies. Emails are working.

It has been such a stressful morning, it will be good to get in the Gym and work off the aches of the day. Raining in the North this morning. It must affect their texts. Watched a few minutes of Huddersfield Town at home in strong rain. Not a pretty sight. They were winning for … 10 minutes but lost 1-4 to Kevin’s chagrin.

Monday, 11th March, 2024

Warm, grey and overcast. Oh, I know the feeling. Well, quite a few jobs to get through plus a couple of hours in the Gym. One of the bathroom sinks has developed a slow leak. Got to get the plumber. While he’s here, he can fix the flow of one of the bathrooms’ showers. This afternoon, the House Security System is doing the annual service so we have to be here. Don’t want him breaking in!

Finally agreed to sell our two, old (nearly new) phones for £642.00 to a resale company called Meelie Mobile in Newcastle-under-Lyme. According to their website, they will sell them on for about £1000.00. They are in perfect condition after two years of use having been protected by back cases and front screen covers. Good luck to them. I’m quite happy. I ordered all the extras – covers, screen protectors, etc, from Amazon Prime. I love it. Next day delivery ‘free’ and free and easy returns if you don’t like them … which I don’t. New ones ordered to be delivered tomorrow. Rejects going back tomorrow.

Ensuite

We’ve decided that our plumber isn’t as good as we first thought and I have to look for another. Our local Checkatrade has quite a few but how do I decide? I just pick one and call. If they’re rubbish, I won’t use them again. We’ve phoned Plumber on Tap because I like the name. He will be with us tomorrow.

Talked to Julie this morning. Kevin’s wife, Chris, is going up to see her this week which is both ironic and magnanimous. Both are in a flurry to get things at their best. Kevin won’t be there. I wonder why.

Anyway, I’m going in the Gym to hide away from the world. Until I go on a Kings’ drive to discover what lies beyond. Can you believe the Royal Family deliberately deceiving their slavering public by altering photographs. Is there anyone who actually cares? I certainly don’t. They are irrelevant to modern Britain.

Tuesday, 12th March, 2024

A truly horrible day of heavy rain. Warm but terribly wet. There is so much to do but the climate is revolting. Early this morning we had to go out for some purchases.

No wonder I use Amazon Prime who deliver ‘free of charge’ next day to my door. By the end of this week I will have received deliveries from them on 5 consecutive days. I know it sounds mad but phone covers and screen protectors. Some rejected and returned with new ones ordered. Computer/iPad Screen cleaner, specialist lighting tubes used in the bathrooms but which I can’t be bothered hunting for in the real world, Sellotape pack, mobile trickle charger for the side of my bed. It’s the delivery people I feel sorry for. They constantly looked shattered and stressed. Come to think of it, I remember that feeling …

The Home Security service man arrived yesterday afternoon. It took him precisely 15 minutes to check the system, PIRs, Alarm battery, sound box, etc. That costs £110.00 per year. Actually, it is more of an insurance policy because they come out immediately in crisis times when the alarm goes off. It would be incredibly stressful for the neighbourhood particularly if we were away.

Think I’m giving up the will to live. We have a dear friend who is struggling with terminal cancer. It is almost unimaginable. Sometimes death seems to follow us round. I was reading an article written by a Hospice nurse about the most common things people in their final days regret:

  • ‘ I wish I hadn’t dedicated so much of my life to working so hard.’ …
  • ‘ I wish I’d lived my life the way I wanted, not how others expected me to behave.’ …
  • ‘ I regret losing touch with so many of my friends’. …
  • ‘ I wish I’d been brave enough to express my feelings more’. ‘ …
  • ‘ I wish I’d let myself be happier’.

So many of these things could apply to me. They are a wake up call for the now, for the alive. Learn from other’s mistakes. They Stay With Me.

I have a problem with sex. I am strictly heterosexual and I just can’t watch a homosexual kiss on screen or anywhere else. It is clearly becoming more acceptable in the media but I just cannot watch it. I have literally to avert my eyes. I have tried to examine my response but I really don’t know if it is cultural or physical or a blend of the two. Maybe, I am a product of my time when overt homosexuality was a crime and the generations coming after me will be much more liberal and accepting.

I am in my 70s and like to think I’m fairly open minded. I have no objection to same-sex couples even though I find it impossible to face it myself. I have much more discomfort with Gender Dysphoria which is the subject of action today as the NHS withdraws from the gender-altering process of so-called Trans Children.

Wednesday, 13th March, 2024

Pleasant, dry and fairly bright day. Really warm. Not feeling at my best today – old, fat, tired. Got to get going. Got some photo editing to do today. Making a card for a friend wearing bikini and wellies (her not me) in this weather.

I enjoy photo editing so the recent Royal debacle has rather amused me. Anything which undermines the Monarchy cheers me up and putting out a publicly sanctioned photo is a bit different to the personal things I do but anybody who uses social media trespasses into this sphere regularly.

Above, two separate photos of Littlehampton beach where the River Arun flows into the sea are then knitted together to create a more panoramic but untruthful shot.

Looks a bit cold and grey so I’ve warmed it up a little by adjusting the colour saturation and hue using a Photoshop precursor I’ve been using for years – Macromedia Fireworks.

There is plenty of speculation that Kate has been editing out the difficult parts of her life and not just the sleeve in a photo. It is possible that she wasn’t even there for the ‘officially published photo but superimposed he face in between kids on a computer. It isn’t difficult and it hasn’t taken the cartoonists long to see the funny side. If only Sunak could Photoshop his difficulties away.

Thursday, 14th March, 2024

Lovely warm and sunny morning. After the warmest Winter we have ever known and in which we have almost forgotten how to use the central heating, this morning we are …. having the central heating serviced. My secretary is nothing if not assiduous about such things.

A couple of days ago, we had the Security System serviced at an annual cost of £110.00 and the Central Heating service today is undertaken by British Gas at an annual cost of £310.00. Although we have been her for 7 years now from ‘new’, very little is showing signs of wear and tear. The central heating and security systems are working as good as new. The boiler is fairly small and hidden in a cupboard in the Utility Room. It’s a cupboard we never open. It’s unnecessary.

Everything is done remotely from phones, iPads and computers. It is so much more convenient. It is also so much more economical. You want the towel rails heating for warm towels after a shower. Turn them on just Upstairs while working in the Office downstairs. You want to cool the Gym, turn the fan on before you get there. This is how life should be organised. I bet you can’t do this on a canal boat!

My friend, Kevin, and I have exchanged memories. He’s done a 12 mile bike ride today for fitness. I reminded him that I did one in July 1972 to attend my sister’s wedding. There were no early morning buses to the station in Harrogate. I had to borrow my flatmate, Nigel’s bike. I had bought a new, black, 3-piece suit from Burton’s in Ripon – £99.00.

Dressed in my suit, I biked from Ripon to Harrogate at 5.00 am. The crows on the road were massive and very intimidating. After 12 miles, I got there in time because I was very fit then. I was at the wedding but that was the last time I ever rode bike.

Kevin did his afternoon ride this afternoon. It was just 12 miles but not in a Burton’s suit.

Friday, 15th March, 2024

Up very early to get through our own jobs before we set out to help others. Off to Sainsburys to shop for ourselves and then home to prepare for a drive to Surrey.

At 7.30 am

We were on a mercy mission this morning as we left early to drive up to Surrey. P&C had got into a muddle with the new television we had installed for them. They were only able to watch CNN …. a fate worse than death. Anyone who has been stuck in a foreign hotel room with the only English channel as CNN will know how hard it can be. I knew that the problem was that they had altered the source from the Freeview box. It took minutes to rectify even though the process wasn’t easy to explain over the phone.

The drive was typically Spring moving through warm sunshine and sharp rain storms and back again. We knew that the M25 around there would be closed at the weekend and it was absolutely packed this morning so we went through Cobham instead. It was a good decision.

Byfleet

The TV took minutes to restore and to rehearse with P&C so they could restore it themselves if anything went wrong again.

Old, Brooklands car track runs behind the carpark.

Pauline noticed their fridge was empty so we shot off to Tesco by the old, Brooklands car race track. We got a reasonable trolley of fruit and vegetables, meat and cheese, wine and chocolate and delivered it back to P&C before setting off on the 90 mins drive home. The drive was typically Spring weather moving through warm sunshine and sharp rain storms and back again. Beautiful blossom everywhere – May Blossom on the roadsides, Magnolia trees in gardens, Cherry blossom in public spaces.

Saturday, 16th March, 2024

Unfortunately P&C are finding life increasingly demanding to deal with. A BT engineer arrived while we were there yesterday. Nobody, including the engineer seemed to know why he had arrived. He left but, by the time we had driven home, their phone line had stopped working. Something had happened which we will have to spend this morning sorting out.

The current chaos that is the M25.

Everything is difficult because of Privacy and Public Liability laws. Even though Pauline shares Power of Attorney, BT will not discuss anything with her about someone else without specific information she just doesn’t have. Perhaps she could phone P&C … if their line hadn’t been cut. We could have driven up there again but the M25 is closed all weekend. Anyway, it turns out that P&C are now having their copper wired land line removed and switched over to a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) one. BT is pushing everyone in that direction. The only thing is that they are charging people £40.00 to fit a new broadband hub. If I’d known yesterday, I could have done it for them for free.

Kevin told me this morning that Julia – my goddaughter – had just completed a very successful Ofsted as SENCO of her school in York. I’ve had a nice chat with her this morning. She is a lovely girl and Kevin is justifiably very proud of her.

In the 6 Nations rugby this afternoon, I want all the away teams to win. The hardest one will be England in Paris but I would particularly like Italy to stuff the Welsh. They deserve it. I’ll be watching from the treadmill and pretending that I’m still playing. It’s quite difficult nowadays to face up to the fact that I will never play again. In fact, never work again. Still, we can all dream and there are still plenty of things that I can and will do again, Dear Reader.

My little sister, Cathy, was in London the other day. I asked her if she was visiting one of my many other sisters, Liz, on her house boat. No fear, she said, I can’t stand boats. All these years and I’d never know that …. a real testament to my sensitivity.

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Week 793

Sunday, 3rd March, 2024

Gorgeous morning although it was quite a cold night. The sun is up and the world is rapidly warming. I’ve been listening to the Chancellor saying absolutely nothing as usual ahead of the budget. I had hoped to hear about his intentions to reform ISAs because that would affect me. I would like to hear him say that he would uprate tax bands because that would have affected me and I would have liked to have heard him confirm the retention of the Triple Lock on State Pensions because that would affect me. I heard none of these things and will now have to wait until the Budget Speech on Wednesday.

We were higher rate tax payers across a large chunk of our working lives but really didn’t expect to be so in retirement. In fact, as we negotiated severance packages on leaving work, that was the first time we really focussed hard on what was to come. In reality, things turned out a lot better than we had anticipated. Teachers’ Pensions is a Defined Benefit Scheme based, in our cases, on our salary and service (Final Salary Arrangement) but for future generations on annual pensionable earnings, revalued each year (Career Average Arrangement). Rather than investments, which many private sector employees now rely on, there were no surprises when we came to claim. Not only that but Teachers Pensions are uprated by RPI inflation rate each new tax year.

It’s what others gaze longingly at nowadays and describe as Gold Plated Pensions. It was one of the few perks of being a teacher, along with the holidays, in a relatively poorly paid profession. It has meant that we feel better off in retirement with no mortgage, no National Insurance payments and no big commuting costs, than we actually did in work. We were always saving and investing while at work and we have continued to do so in retirement. We retired in 2009 and wages and living standards, nationally have hardly risen in that time. It has been the most protracted period of stagnant growth in the post war period and has left us feeling relatively more prosperous than we ever were in work.

One thing we didn’t expect was to be drawn into paying much tax. You may be aware, Dear Reader, of the term: Fiscal Drag. If not, it is taxation by stealth. While Tory Chancellors have talked about wanting to cut taxes on ‘hard working people’ and they have done a bit at the margins, actually, they have increased taxation by much more by holding tax bands firm and not uprating them with inflation. What that means is, if you have a bit of a pay increase, it can be completely wiped out by being dragged into a Higher Tax bracket.

Because of this, we try to shelter as much of our income as possible in Tax-Free savings. In the past, we have invested in shares and bonds. We have gone for managed and tracker funds. We have made money and paid tax on it because the capital gain outweighed the tax. For that reason we largely shunned ISAs. Now, however, the Individual Savings Account is coming back into fashion. All ISA earnings are completely tax free. We can shelter £20,000 per year per person at increasingly competitive rates. Just under a year ago, I managed to put our full, allocation for each of us away at 6.2% and it is fixed for 3 years which allows me to do the same this April and so on. Gradually, over the next few years, we would hope to shelter all our unearned income under a tax-free umbrella

Monday, 4th March, 2024

Oh what a gorgeous day! I’d like to share it with you, Dear Reader. Warm, sunny, bright and blue – just makes one want to be outside. And I’m following that urge by …. driving to the local tip to get rid of the huge amount of packaging we have accumulated recently from purchases. It is bins day today but we’ve got more than we can expect to be taken normally and the tip is quick and easy and only about 4 miles away. Do you want to come too? You know you do. Always good to have a trip out.

Lovely, warm and sunny beach this morning.

Most trips out of here go past the seaside so it is tempting to just stop off for a walk. Today, was warm and windless, soft and sunny and lovely to enjoy. Told you you should have come. The local refuse tip was quiet and the house is now feeling lighter and cleansed of rubbish.

I am a Historian and love I data so it is no surprise that I have kept records across my life. I have box files full of financial records – every payslip going back to September 1972. I was looking at my first couple of years of teaching this morning. My annual salary when I started teaching in September 1972 was £1179.00. That’s not per month but per year and before deductions of income tax, National Insurance, and pension contributions of 7.4%. To put that into perspective, my first monthly pay check was just £62.00 and I had to work for my first month with nothing before I was paid that princely sum.

The grimy old days of 1970s Education Strikes

When I started teaching, there was a shortage of people going into the profession because of the depressed salaries. I was paid extra because English & Science were shortage subjects. I was also paid £365.00 per year extra for teaching in Oldham – an SPS or social priority school. Within the first decade, we received two, relatively large pay rises. In 1975, the Houghton Pay Review awarded us a 27% pay rise. It felt good. Just 5 years later, the Clegg Review awarded us a 25% pay increase which Thatcher had previously foolishly agreed to honour. We went on holiday to celebrate.

Within two years I had received two, large pay rises, additional, special retention payments, two annual salary increments and a promotion. It meant that my annual salary had almost doubled. From almost nothing to double almost nothing. In the subsequent decade, my salary had more than doubled again.

Tuesday, 5th March, 2024

Woke up from a wonderful dream this morning. Bathed in warmth, I didn’t get up until after 7.00 am!!! I felt rather ashamed and self indulgent.

I received an email from BT who supply me with Full Fibre Broadband, ‘Free’ Phone Calls plus BT (TNT) Sport for the princely sum of £125.00 per month. It will soon cost me £135.00 per month. EE, which is also owned by BT is raising my mobile phone charge from £160.00 per month top £172.00 per month for two mobiles so it was really good to hear that we had won the National Lottery over the weekend. That extra £30.00 will really help.

Now Springtime is here, I am thinking about the garden. The soil in the raised beds has compacted and sunk over winter. It needs refreshing and topping up. I’m looking for someone to deliver a large bag of quality topsoil. This is the sort of price I am going to have to pay. When I’ve done that, I’m going to hire a specialist firm to come and clean the patio and drive. I do it myself each Spring but, after 7 years, I want a more professional job. I can’t do that until I’ve finished all the messy jobs like topping up the beds with soil.

I have a new role model to emulate. She was featured in the press yesterday when she turned 117. Can you imagine it? Come on, Dear Reader. Until now, we’ve been setting our sights too low. The new bar is set at 118. For me that will be 2069 some 45 years away. So much time for new life and enjoyment. Come on!!!

Kevin and I have agreed to order a Methuselah bottle of Champagne to celebrate our 118th birthday together. It’s only 6 litres after all. I’ve found one which will do nicely. Even non-drinkers are allowed to break the habits of a lifetime in 2069.

Wednesday, 6th March, 2024

Almost done the first week of March already. Time moves on lost in the tedium of routine. I did my jobs this morning as I do every Wednesday – stripped the bed. I’m not trusted to remake it. Emptied the dishwasher – I’m not trusted to stack it. There has to be more to life than this. Just ask Liz!

Feeling old this morning …. almost 118. Kevin says he wants crisps not nuts with his champagne so the question is whether to buy them now or risk leaving it until 2069. Until then, it is fresh produce for me. Fresh vegetables = Longer Life? Well, maybe.

I smiled this morning when we went out to buy a cooler duvet – 1 Tog – which is what you need when you’re so hot in bed but I came back with these, gorgeous vegetables. Not one item was grown in UK. Oranges from Valencia, Bananas from Columbia, Mango from Costa Rica, Asparagus from Mexico and Green Beans from Senegal. I observe that as a Tory MP stands up and says we should growing all our own produce.

Older age has definitely seen me move increasingly towards eating more vegetables – something I resisted as a young man. I’ve been amazed how much I’ve enjoyed them although I could never be a vegetarian. I do have a little sister who is a Vegan – but you always get one! I suppose, it is easier to indulge oneself in retirement whereas the stress of teaching pushed me more towards self-indulgence, unhealthy, comfort food and lack of exercise.

This pair of old men, good friends of mine although both a couple of years older, are still looking fit and healthy this week even though they live in the North. I think Chris, seen on the right in 1971, has got a job as a postman in his old age.

This morning, however, I had terrible news of another friend who was only 72 and died of cancer last night. He had been clear of cancer for a few years but it returned as it is inclined to do, and he finally succumbed. The cruel twist of fate is dreadful to acknowledge. All we can do is work to mitigate it through a happy, healthy lifestyle.

On this day in 2009, I was writing:

Things are moving fast at the moment. The amalgamation of our school with another and its re-emergence as an Academy has led to enormous redundancy packages being offered. Pauline & I are currently thinking of bringing our retirement forward to this summer.

As it turned out, things were moving very fast and, a month later, we were retired, our mortgage was paid off, we had set up long term investments and were looking forward to a life of leisure.

Thursday, 7th March, 2024

Lovely warm and bright, Spring morning. Almost time to start cutting the lawns. The beds are full of daffodils in full flower and some even starting to go over. We went down to one of the Garden Centres for a quick look.

It is still three weeks until Easter – the traditional start to the Gardening Calendar – but things are well under way. Huge areas of starter plantlets for growing on at home to save the gardener weeks of effort in growing from seed. I will combine both this year … but not quite yet.

Spring is a time for optimism and for hope. All gardeners work on that basis. In spite of the warm but wet Winter weather, better days are ahead. People sow seeds in expectation that they will germinate and plant out in the expectation that they will flower. It is the only way that humans can approach life. I’m trying to do just that but there is something constantly nagging in the back of my mind. You’ve heard of fate, haven’t you Dear Reader?

Only one ship is seeking us, a black-
Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back
A huge and birdless silence. In her wake
No waters breed or break.

Next, Please (1955) – Philip Larkin

Never let over-optimism cloud your judgement. That black-sailed ship is still coming. It’s all just a matter of WHEN.

My friend, Kevin whose older than me, has fallen off his bike. The bike’s alright but Kevin is quite badly damaged. Because I am very sympathetic, I’ve suggested a re-spray.

Just had my Annual Medical Review and they said I was a walking miracle: good blood pressure/heart rate, good cholesterol, no sign of diabetes. In an idle moment while waiting in the Surgery, I was reading my Twitter Feed and answered a question: If you could be the author of any book in the world, which book would it be? I said The Karma Sutra and it went viral.

Friday, 8th March, 2024

Yesterday reached 17C/63F. It has been followed by a gorgeous morning today. Out in the sunshine down to the beach and a walk back along the Marina Promenade.

It is a sleepily working port with fishing and leisure craft pottering around but, back-lit with the bright, Mediterranean colours, it makes one feel like on permanent holiday.

I know virtually nothing about ‘Pop Music’ at least since 1972. It really hasn’t interested me. Even as a teacher, I didn’t engage with it. This was amusingly illustrated over the past few days when I was asked about a character who I now know is Liam Gallagher and is/was in a group called Oasis. Now, I admit, I hed heard of Oasis because they came from Manchester but I could not identify a single member of the Group?/Band?/Combo? and certainly not any of their music. Kevin though that was hilarious.

Well, now I know another group called Blur. Apparently, they were ‘famous’ at about the same time – something which completely passed me by. It came to light this week as Blur impinged on politics. I learnt that the drummer, Dave Rowntree has been selected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Mid-Sussex. I also learnt that Blur was described as Brit-Pop Band – which was all too much for me.

For more than 10 years, I have held a contract with EE for two mobiles. Nowadays, they consider us long standing customers because they suffer high high levels of churn amongst their clients. Our current contract runs out in May but they have been bombarding me for weeks with upgrade offers. Today, I finally gave in and I am pleased I did. We have 2 x Samsung Ultra S22 smartphones which a 5G and I am replacing them with 2 x the latest Samsung Ultra S24. They will cost me a bit less even though we will have unlimited, ‘free’ calls, texts and data which will also be available on roaming in Europe and the USA. Sometimes it pays to be loyal.

I have managed to fix a resale value for our 2 x Samsung S22 Ultras simply and easily with webuyanyphone.com for 2 x £306.00. Quite pleased with this afternoon’s deal!

Saturday, 9th March, 2024

Rather a duller start to the day but very warm. We’re having the annual central heating service soon. I’ve almost forgotten we have central heating at all we’ve used it so little this year. So light in the mornings now. You can just feel better things are coming.

Before I do anything else, I must wish little Cathy happy birthday. I say little because she always will be to me but she is 69 today. Very hard to believe and it does pull me up short to the nightmare that is aging. When I say to myself that this scene was nearly 60 years ago – long before colour televisions, home computers and the internet, long before mobile phones or dishwashers. Anyway, she won’t care. She’s very happy with her life. Long may it last! I think this holiday snap must have been about 1966-67. I was touring around Southern Ireland then.

Trouble with getting new phones is that they need new covers, new screen protectors and all the apps and data from the old ones copied across. Because I only do that every couple of years, I always forget how to do it and have to consult Google. I must make a mental note that I use the SmartSwitch app.

It means that I can copy across all our apps, texts, photos, address book, calendar and data without time consuming effort.

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Week 792

Sunday, 25th February, 2024

Lovely, Spring morning. Sunday papers are full of electioneering. You would be forgiven for thinking the Tories, running scared, will try to minimise their losses by announcing a ‘snap’ General Election to coincide with the Local Elections in May. I don’t think it will do them any good. Defeat is baked in but, we’ll see.

The local newspaper, Brighton & Worthing Argus ran a story this weekend of a huge whale that washed up on Littlehampton Beach a few days ago. Never seen a live / recently dead whale in the flesh. Would have liked to have witnessed this.

Littlehampton Beach

I am preparing our Lounge TV to be taken up to Surrey for P&C. It’s a 65″ Samsung Smart TV which will dominate their Lounge. They don’t use Sky TV at all but are content with a Freeview box even though viewing is quite high on their agenda as they are in later life. Everything for us goes through a Sky-Q box which makes life very simple but I’d forgotten so many of the facilities these smart TVs have incorporated like displaying pictures in downtime and making video calls with Google-Meet. I have ordered them a new Freeview box which will allow High definition pictures to go with their new set.

Google -Meet

Going to have to get M all the way from Florida in BIG on our new, 75″ TV. Be able to see all her wrinkles! Unbelievable to think she’s going to be 60 next birthday.

Monday, 26th February, 2024

Bright but cold morning. Strong sea breeze. Amazed how light it was at 6.00 am. The dustbin men came early banging about in the street. I went out to collect ours (men’s work) and ended up retrieving about six others that seemed to have minds of their own in the wind. Good neighbour bit done for the day, I am settling down to a (self imposed) list of jobs.

I think I’m becoming an angry, old man. British Gas installed a smart meter in my Office and then text me regularly to submit readings. What’s the point of a smart meter if they don’t collect the data smartly? Tried speaking to someone. Failed. Tried an on-line chat. was sent round in ever decreasing circles of bot-chat boredom. Gave up. Tried to submit readings via the app and was told the System isn’t working at the moment. Try again later.

Thought I would contact Sainsburys about a missing product that we’ve been buying for years and has suddenly disappeared from local shelves and the national database. I have already spoken to the manufacturers – Unilever and their product company Walls who say their is no shortage in production. They gave me a Sainsburys number to phone. Try online or phoning Sainsburys and you are sent round in ever decreasing circles of bot-chat boredom

Bury Art Gallery

While I was indulging in a consumerist world of self-indulgence, I was talking to Kevin in Leeds, Dave in Bolton, Julie in Hull and others about the Tory Cabinet meeting being held in the North today to re-announce money for local development that they first announced in October 2023 and which they will be releasing in 2025 …. after they are out of Office. Another exercise in futility which leaves Towns from our past struggling in the cold and wet.

Sunny Oldham on the brink.

The MEN this morning features Bury Art Gallery that houses moderately important paintings by Turner and Landseer, et al, which are under threat from the inability of the council to afford repairs to the roof which is leaking down on to these treasures. It also features Oldham Council struggling to cover a shortfall of £30 million after having £200 million taken out of its budget over the years of Tory austerity.

Meanwhile, as they Tories pretend they are bringing barrowloads of cash to the North, the Hospitals, as the MEN features, are struggling to find cash to maintain buildings and services. This is a tired government on its last legs with a bunch of far right racists ruling the roost. Now is not the time to be living in impoverished areas struggling to survive.

Tuesday, 27th February, 2024

Lovely Spring morning. The sap is rising. Had to test my INR and report to the Hospital. I am back to normal or as close to normal as I will ever be. (Yes, I know, I will never be normal.) I have thanked the anticoagulation department for their help. Window cleaner has arrived. It is the same one we engaged when we arrived here 7 years ago and he is still charging £18.00 for a good job.

John Rylands Research Institute and Library on Deansgate

If you know me and/or you are a regular reader, you will know that I like facts, statistics and research. After completing a initial Honours Degree, I immediately embarked on a Research Masters Degree into the history of the Labour Party. I loved it. I knew instantly that I’d found my forte. I spent hours, days, weeks in Manchester Rotunda Library, the John Rylands Research Institute in Deansgate, in the bowels of the stacks of Huddersfield University Library. I accessed the amazing resources of Oxford and Cambridge Universities electronically. I travelled to Greece with armfuls of photocopies of Trade Union History, German Sociologists political commentaries, early Labour MPs biographies, etc..

Richard Bell, Ramsay McDonald & Keir Hardie

Obviously, I was a real bundle of fun at that time. I was working to obliterate past failures. However, although I didn’t go on to complete the Doctorate because it would have taken up too much of my life, I remain intrinsically interested and involved in Labour Party politics. My interest comes from my research into the origins of Labour history and the precursor to the party was the Labour Representation Committee. On this day in 1900, Richard Bell was elected MP for a Derby constituency along with Keir Hardie.

A thing of Beauty

During the day, I talk to lots of people from University days and from College days. We all review our relationships and actions from the past and these discussions often involve objective memories. One of the things which has recently become current is our Students’ Union Card. I had one from Ripon College, one from the Open University and one from Huddersfield University. Amazing how many have kept theirs. Have you, Dear Reader? I posted mine on-line today. I’ve already been contacted by 149 past students. You’ve either got it or …

Lovely evening in the garden full of bird song. Pauline cooked Calamari out there. Delicious!

Wednesday, 28th February, 2024

Not a good night. Up early. Feeling a bit low. Expecting a delivery from Curry’s of a new television. The time slot was 9.00 am until 1.00 pm. Not ideal and they arrived at 12.55 pm. Two lads who were allocated 10 mins to deliver, unpack, connect up and remove the packaging before moving on to their next delivery. Fortunately, I was able to make it easy for them. I did the setting up for a Bulgarian and a former BBC technician fallen on hard times.

They left with smiles on their faces. The Bulgarian swearing that he would meet me in Greece in the Summer. Meanwhile, we had to drive down to the beach to collect an order of sushi-quality Tuna which was being sold off cheaply. The Fishmongers told us that so many people couldn’t afford top quality fresh fish that there is a glut in the market at the moment and they were discounting things we buy regularly.

While we were there, we bought some freshly caught Torbay Soles which nearly killed us to skin when we got them home.

We drove on to the beach side where the sea was looking cold and uninviting. The pebble beach was hard and uninviting. The sky was grey and … uninviting. Drove home to do my exercise routine. I am fighting the fat, old, wrinkly persona of old people as much as I can. I am going to incorporate rowing into my regime immediately because I can’t afford to stand still.

Thursday, 29th February, 2024

The end of February 2024. Leap Year Day. I am still waiting for my proposal. My wife was reading about the current trend for couples holidaying separately. I think she’s trying to tell me something. Who will she get to carry her bags?

What I can tell you is that February has got to go down as the wettest on record. It is pouring with rain … AGAIN. This is supposed to be the sun centre of the UK. I think someone moved West Sussex to North Wales in the middle of the night. Had to shop at Sainsburys because the carpark is underground and dry.

I’ve rather caught Sainsburys out not telling the truth. A product that we’ve bought consistently over the past couple of years. They have stocked a Greek Yoghurt Ice Cream which is lovely and very low in calories. Suddenly the shelves are bare. When I enquired of Customer Service, I was told it was a supply problem. Having interrogated Unilever & Walls, they assure me they have plenty but haven’t been asked for them. I don’t take No for an answer. Guess where I’m going next. Is my life too exciting?

I am married to a Cook. She has always been passionate about cooking (not about me.) She has collected shelves of Cookery Books, Files of cuttings and Databases of recipes that she has been collecting for over 40 years and she watches everything she can to pick up ideas for new ingredients, dishes and menus. As a result, I have watched every TV chef known to man. In fact, I wanted to create a Cookery Blog that she could maintain and take up advertising on. I’m sure it would have been a money spinner. She didn’t show the interest and I dropped it.

You may be aware of a duo known as The Hairy Bikers – two men from the North East whose unique selling point is there bluff, Northern honesty. Today it was announced that Dave Myers – probably the more intelligent, educated one of the pair succumbed to the recurrence of a cancer which reappeared over the past three years. He was only 66 and once again underlines the brevity and fragility of life.

Lack of checks often is at the root of these problems. However persuasive one is, it can be very difficult to get full examinations. We are already discussing having regular, private provision Whole Body MRI scans perhaps every 2-3 years so that problems can be detected early and referred for action quickly. It isn’t cheap but, what is the point in having money if we die with it?

Friday, 1st March, 2024

Happy March, Dear Reader. Up early to load the car with a 65″ Smart TV to take up to Surrey. It is the first day of meteorological Spring and it felt nice. Daffodils line the streets, nice temperature and some sunshine. What more could you want? You could have come with me but that’s your loss.

Missing out the M25, we negotiated the Porches, Aston Martins and Ferraris of the Chelsea set in Cobham and moved on to West Byfleet. The first two cars in front of us were worth around £300,000.

As we drove, I listened to my favourite Political Podcast – The Newsagents which I streamed from my phone and through my car speakers. It is a great way to pass the time. I hardly notice the drive.

P&C were waiting. I am not very familiar with Freeview so it was a tricky installation time. Still, we took their 55″ TV up to the Ironing Room and sorted that out. and installed their new 65″ TV in the Lounge with their Freeview box. Life seemed to be almost restored to normal. The one hitch was their Netflix account which wasn’t working. I’ve had to give them access to mine for now. P&C are not so mobile now and the TV selection is increasingly important to them.

By 1.00 pm we were driving home. It takes about an hour and a quarter. The M25 was kind to us today. A lovely morning of warm sunny weather was replaced by yet more rain this afternoon. It felt like a bit of an anti climax. Actually ate cheese & biscuits for Lunch. Immediately regretted it but have to move on.

Heard from Julie who is working hard on her fitness with a personal trainer and down in the allotment with her vegetables. Kevin is browsing the political cartoons and John R who is preparing the next lecture. I can usually drive non-stop for 15 hours across Europe without much fatigue. At the moment, I am out of training and a three hour round trip to Surrey leaves me tired and aching. More training needed! Might actually have a day off from the Gym today.

Saturday, 2nd March, 2024

Another day and more rain. This has been the warmest and wettest February on record down here. It’s a bit depressing.

We are just going to have to get some sun soon … well, after we’ve lost some weight, regained some more fitness and been signed off formally by Oncology.

It all makes me feel old. I remember, as a lad at home being told to get my haircut and resolving that I would never have my haircut again when I left home. It didn’t last, of course. These days, I’m pleased to have hair at all. I remember seeing old people being weak limbed, unsteady in their balance and generally feeble and thinking, I’m never going to get like that. Now, after an hour at my desk, I get up and can barely walk. My limbs and muscles take ages to assert their authority over my body and propel me forward. You wouldn’t think I was in the Gym for two hours every day.

I must admit that I concentrate almost almost entirely on cardio work and it has vastly improved my heart rate, blood pressure and stamina. I do know I have to start working on strength and muscle building as well as stretching, suppleness and balance. I can feel my body losing some of those aspects. I know there are some things you can’t legislate for.

This girl above could have taught me a lot about muscle retention. She was from my home town in Derby and had a stellar career but died at the ridiculously young of 74. Much good her scientific knowledge did for her. Like my wife, she had been Head Girl of her school and Captain of the Netball Team.

I don’t know how my own body works, don’t know where most bits are. Don’t know even if I’ve still got some bits or what to do with them if I have. I just keep plugging on and panicking on a regular basis.

The aim, of course, is not just to live a long time but to live a healthy, long life. Not only that, it is important to not shutdown and restrict life because of age. My little sister, Liz, has worked with the elderly for years. Now she’s elderly herself. She has done all sorts of little jobs like Manchester Strategic Director Social Services, Executive director of Adult Social Care for the tri-borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster in London and other things.

You would think she would retire into something comfortable and normal but she’s chosen to live on a …. House Boat on the Grand Union Canal. Can you believe it? But, at the age of 66, this little hippy chick thinks she’s so cool but she’s still got a lot of growing up to do. In maturity, she’ll look back on these rebel years and laugh.

Pleased to report that, once again, the sun has come out and it is bright and warm. Time for a trip to the Gym.

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Week 791

Sunday, 18th February, 2024

Three years ago today, Winter ended, life was revived and a long awaited Spring arrived. Out of the mists of time, an old life seemed to offer hope. OK, maybe a bit melodramatic but never underplay things, Dear Reader.

I remember, I remember the time when ….

The first ‘official’ UK Lockdown was still a month away but we had already self-imposed it. Being of the demographic most susceptible to Covid, we had withdrawn from our Health Club and largely withdrawn from meeting people. We were having home deliveries of supermarket shopping, exercising outside while preparing our Home Gym, wearing masks and feeling quite fearful of the future. Suddenly, it appeared that a single vaccination could solve all our problems and on this day we had ours. It felt momentous.

Our Open-Air Gym – 2021

Our life had been disrupted, Three different travel arrangements including a couple of months booking of a villa in Tenerife had to be cancelled and the battle to reclaim the upfront payments was starting. It all took a long time but it is beginning to feel that we came through it largely unscathed. People are still being hospitalised with Covid. People are still dying of Covid. Some people’s live are utterly blighted with Long-Covid. We feel justified in our precautions. No Covid. We will live to see a Labour Government. And the life that was restarted three years ago will be re-invigorated by me this year.

At least it has turned into a lovely, sunny and warm day. We reached 17C/63F which was warmer than Athens and Florida. I am enjoying my diet and exercise routine and I am feeling determined. The thought for the day is: Never Give Up!

Monday, 19th February, 2024

My little brother, Bob, joins the unlucky 72th club today. We wish him happy birthday. He seems content in his retirement and particularly in his developing hobby of photography. I think the photograph was taken outside Buckingham Palace circa 1955. I’ve cut myself out of it to maintain its purity. Doesn’t he look a little angel? What a long way we’ve come.

Everything changes across time. Life is in a constant state of flux which may explain why we cling on to familiarities and routines – almost blindly – like some anchor in the eternal storm. In fact, this morning I was thinking about custom & practice as a general rule. It actually is a ‘thing’ in law and is defined as a long-standing occurrence that is continuously applied, acknowledged and expected by all. But it is the way human beings construct it in their lives that I wanted to consider today.

It has been a deliberate policy of mine for many years. I don’t always find it easy but I force myself to embrace change to find new opportunity for experience. I insist on being an early adopter of technology which can be really challenging for many older people. I try to embrace or at least explore new ideas and movements. I was reminded of this when we shopped this morning and I took out bags from the car.

Who even remembers the time when you turned up to the supermarket and were given unlimited plastic carrier bags to carry shopping away? Could you even put a year on when we were starting to phase them out? Well, it was 9 years ago. I remember taking a mountain of about 40 ‘free’ bags away to delay the problem but we quickly got into a pattern of taking our own bags. We bought lots in France and still use them for their cachet. Amazing how they become a talking point amongst shoppers. The world is still turning.

The Manchester Evening News sends me daily briefings of M24 and beyond. This morning, there was this feature. It meant something to me because we did a special trip to Oldham for an expatriate who couldn’t get Hollands Pies and Oven Bottom Muffins. It drew my attention further because the head baker at this featured bakery in Waterhead is one of Pauline’s in-laws. Ex-pats so often get a longing for what they have left behind.

I like to go back to meet people and places from my past but technology is so quick to advance and so exciting that I just have to go forward and have it as soon as possible. Age has made me a little more cautious. I don’t take quite as many risks but time is still of the essence. Honda seem to know that. They are constantly tempting me. They know I want their new car but I am trying to control myself … for a while.

Tuesday, 20th February, 2024

Our early for the first part of my annual medical review. The Surgery carpark was packed but the surgery waiting room was almost empty. Seems most people were queuing for prescriptions in the attached Pharmacy. I was seen on time and very briskly reviewed what has been a difficult year. Blood Pressure great – 124/74 pulse 55. Foot check produced, You’ve got good feet. Blood and Urine samples will be analysed and my second part of the review will be in a fortnight.

In this week a year ago, I was going for quite an uncomfortable biopsy which quickly found I had a reasonably aggressive prostate cancer. The consequence of that led to a year of discomfort but it is over now at least for a while.

Got home to a lot of junk mail on the mat. Only one item was for me. I wonder if you can guess which one. It is like this every day now and most is duplicated on email and text message as well. Yesterday was Hilary’s Blinds which we get every other week since we bought from them 7 years ago. Every week I get paper, email and text adverts from Toner Giant who I buy from once a year and every week we get piles of fliers delivered by hand from local businesses. I like junk mail but it can get a bit much.

Today, Labour has put out a reason for the retired to vote for them. They will guarantee the Triple Lock State Pension which is under attack all around. UK has one of the poorest State Pension provisions in the Western World and this will just stop many falling behind. It doesn’t bear thinking about how anyone exists purely on their state pension but, at least this helps.

Wednesday, 21st February, 2024

Well, it’s raining again. Beginning to think I’ve moved to live in Wales without realising it. At least there is one upside. No central heating. I don’t think I can remember a winter in my adult lifetime when we have hardly used the central heating. It is quite amazing. Even in Greece in October we put the underfloor heating on.

Yet another accident on the M62 this morning. This one has over a two hour delay on the stretch we would have been driving to work. It is only Wednesday and this is the third major incident of the week. I wonder why we didn’t move south earlier. It must have been some fatal attraction to the pain.

All the mood music is finally going against the Tories. We’ve had the popular backlash finally provoked by the Post Office drama on TV. We’ve had the first element of the Covid Enquiry televised in all its uncomfortable detail and now we’ve got the Covid drama perfectly written by Dr. Rachael Clarke who I’ve been following on Twitter (X) for the last few years and which is brilliantly dramatised by Jed Mercurio of Bodyguard and Line of Duty fame. Watched the first of three episodes of Breathtaking which dramatises those dreadful times of Covid overload in hospitals contrasted with the politicians and co-opted senior medics assuring us, falsely, that everything was fine.

Breathtaking scandal

While Johnson, Hancock and Harries assured us that everything was fine and there was plenty of PPE and covid tests for medical staff, nurses were in fact kitting themselves out with bin bags, doctors had inappropriate face masks and people were discharged without tests. Just another Tory scandal and we still have the Windrush to be settled along with the infected blood scandal to be faced. It’s all going very well.

Oh, to live a long and healthy life! The old guy on the right in this photograph was my First Year Tutor at college. When I arrived there in 1969, I thought he was so old. 55 years later, he is still standing and so is his wife. Lucky man.

Thursday, 22nd February, 2024

Yest another dull, wet day of low cloud and gloom. The temperature has stayed at 11C/52F night and day for 72 hours. Today is a shopping day. I took the risk and went down to LIDL! I know, Dear Reader, a worrying fall in standards but I only buy their Almond Milk. Not only is theirs the cheapest but it is the tastiest. I buy it in bulk and it is my go-to drink during the day.

Every week, Lidl seem to do a Flavour of the Week based on a country or a region. This week it is Italy. Normally, it would take my interest but we fell for this before when it was Greek Week and everything we bought was the cheapest, poorest quality thing we could have bought in Greece in the past.

We were on our way to the harbour fish shop for prawns and salmon. The seaside was deserted because of the weather. Nothing stops the seas and the tides. It was still coming in as I stopped to walk in the gentle rain this morning. There is a sort of foreboding in the green-grey sea crashing on the beach under leaden skies this morning.

This weather is making me lethargic and fed up. I should be doing so much but can’t really be bothered.

Back home via Sainsburys for the weekly shop. Something has happened in the past couple of weeks. Shelves are well stacked to overflowing. Fresh produce is plentiful. I love asparagus and eat it about 3 times a week along with Green/French beans. Suddenly there are boxes of both all the time. Some management decision has been made to effect this.

Back home for coffee and the latest political storm in a teacup. We’ll know by the end of the day whether the Speaker will still be in post. I don’t rate him anyway. He is intellectually and emotionally unsuited to managing the House of Commons but he was chosen by the Tories as an alternative to the mental acuity and emotional strength of Bercow who they engineered out after Brexit.

So easy to feel imprisoned by this weather – under house arrest. I will not allow it. I’m going to break free and start creating waves. Hold on, hold on ….

Friday, 23rd February, 2024

Bad night. Didn’t sleep well. Dreams drifting constantly across the screen of dreams. I don’t think I was watching anything which provoked this but a woman imprisoned in a room gagged and restricted kept going round and round. Last night I was watching the covid scandal dramatisation. Maybe that was the source. Anyway, I finally fell asleep when it was time to get up.

Richard (Dick) Spain

Learnt yesterday of the death of a man who taught Economics in our school for about a decade in the 1980s. He was just 69 and had moved out of teaching and into Local Authority work in North Wales. That’s probably what did for him.

I feel at a loose end. A Times journalist wrote this week of being in God’s Waiting Room and, while I don’t believe in any god, it does feel a bit like marking time and waiting for something to happen. It goes totally against the grain. I hate mindlessness and time filling. Got to get a project on the go.

At the moment, I am reduced to listening to political podcasts and chatting to friends across the country. Most of them are retired and are experiencing similar challenges so understand the problem. I am trying to distract myself by investigating and preparing for my next car which is likely to be a Honda CR-V e:PHEV Plug-in hybrid.

The Honda Connect which we have at the moment is greatly upgraded with many more facilities. Currently, our car has a built in 3G mobile phone connection for emergencies. It is enhanced in the new model to allow for remote charging, remote heating up/defrosting, remote Find my Car facility and remote Intruder Alert/Security Alarm all linked to our phones. It even has an automatic parking facility. Everything a man of a certain age and with the prospect of onset dementia could need. Now all I need is a spare £57,000 and and to put in an order.

Quite a nice day outside but I’m going in the Gym to watch the Test Match. I should have done this in earlier years. Exercising while watching sport is so much better for me than being a passive spectator.

Saturday, 24th February, 2024

Another poor night. Don’t know what is wrong with me but my dreams are haunting at the moment. Blink twice for yes. Up late but out early to drive to Surrey. Great motorways today. M, P&C are back from Florida for a few days. We are hoping to donate our Lounge TV to P&C. It is a 65″ Samsung smart TV which will fill their lounge.

Today I’ve ordered an update 75″ Samsung edition which I’ve been considering for a few days. We have 6 other TVs as it is and nowhere else to put our current model and thought it would help P&C.

Surrey by the Canal

It was lovely to see M back home from Florida. We need to get back there to join her in the near future. She made us a lovely Lunch of Soup (Pea & Ham), Salad & Sushi. It was delicious. It was great to see her and share our thoughts. She is a kind girl. I took this photo at the bottom of her garden.

Back home after driving through Cobham rather than the M25, we relaxed into a bottle of pink champagne with cheese and biscuits. During the day, I talked to my Northern friends – Julie, Kevin, JohnR and JohnM. England crashed out to Scotland in the Calcutta Cup. I am left with a hole in my life.

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Week 790

Sunday, 11th February, 2024

Manchester Airport Fog

Gorgeously sunny and warm morning – just right for a birthday. Ironically, my friend Kevin in Leeds is flying to Alicante this morning from Manchester Airport which is enveloped in thick fog – so thick that you can’t see the planes on the runway. Let’s hope he takes off sometime today. If he gets there, the forecast is for a good week of sunshine. Should help with his persistent SAD syndrome side effects.

For me, totally grounded on the sunny South Coast, the process has well and truly begun. This is breakfast. I have to drink a litre of enema plus clear liquid. You know you’re jealous, Dear Reader. I’ve already tried to get my wife to drink it for me without success. I don’t know what happened to love, honour and obey but there is a distinct lack of it in our kitchen this morning.

The solution – a powder from a sachet diluted in 500 mls of tepid water – is supposed to be Mango flavour. That chemical mixture is about as far from a mango as Kevin currently is from Alicante. It’s horrible and it has to be followed by another 500 mls of a clear liquid and champagne is not allowed. My one meal of the day will be Beef Consommé …. Oh, what joy. Going to distract myself by going in the Gym – at least it’s close to the ‘Facilities’.

Breakfast in the sunshine

The second sachet – Fruit Punch flavour – is a 7.00 pm. Should be an interesting night. I’ve done my exercise routine of 90 mins in the Gym and now I have a cup of black tea to look forward to. Still, I requested this so this is what I will have to endure.

My wife says I am pushing it too hard in the Gym at the moment. When I come out, she says my lips have turned white as if all the blood has drained. I’ve always pushed things further than I should but, currently, I am trying to get my fitness back to my pre-cancer treatment level and it’s taking longer than I want. In the Gym, I’m watching yet another Cold War spy drama at the moment – Berlin Station. I have absolutely no idea why or where my taste for these comes from but I get absolutely hooked on them and the world of secrecy and mistrust.

Monday, 12th February, 2024

Up at 6.00 am after a difficult night. Outside it is clear but cold at 3C/37F. It is going to be a lovely, sunny day. Unfortunately, I am going to spend the morning in the Endoscopy section of the local hospital. This morning I have completed the Consent Form indicating that I won’t want sedation and on it I’ve recorded essential test stats that I did this morning over a cup of black tea.

INR / Blood Pressure / Covid

My appointment is at 10.00 am but the warning is that it could be delayed by up to 4 hrs – a bit different to the one I paid for at the Nuffield a couple of years ago.

My friend, Kevin, who flew to Spain yesterday to avoid the snow and dark, winter days in Yorkshire finally got there 6 hours late after being delayed by dense fog that even the MEN referred to as highly unusual. He couldn’t have chosen a worse day to travel. I suspect quite a lot of alcohol was required to come down from that debacle. He will certainly be waking to a beautiful day even if he is in Benidorm.

What it must be to be 73! The thing about this colonoscopy is that it means facing one’s longevity starkly. As we all slip down the diurnal slide towards the inevitable, we all fight it in different ways. I just hope I will be able to complete my exercise routine this afternoon. I’m feeling so deliciously empty after a 24 hr fast that I don’t want to break the spell now. Can I go through the rest of my life without solid food? Perhaps not.

My visit to the hospital this morning was the most humbling and life affirming experience it is possible to have. I was in and out within an hour in which time I met the most wonderful people it is possible to know. The lady inserting the camera was a Grecophile who was reading Victoria Hislop’s latest novel set in Thessaloniki – The Thread. I didn’t bother with any sedation or air and gas. We just talked non-stop and watched the most wonderful pictures on the huge flat screen. I didn’t realise how beautiful I was on the inside.

Anyway, the result is that I am cancer-free although I have a sign of moderate diverticula. It is normal for my age. I don’t have to follow this up although I will. I will book a repeat in three years. I cannot get over the most wonderful people I have met in the last 24 hrs. I am going back tomorrow to take them a huge box of chocolates and a big thank-you card. It is the least I can do.

We left the hospital and went to Waitrose for a snack lunch – Italian meats and cheeses. Drove home via the coast road where lots of parents and children were walking / running in the Half Term sunshine.

At home, in delicious sunshine with the patio doors open, we ate our lunch with a bottle of champagne. I now have to settle down to an afternoon of exercise and a few months of work and dieting. Looking forward to surprising my friends in the North with visits they don’t expect.

Tuesday, 13th February, 2024

Walking on air this morning. Wishing everybody Happy everything even if they don’t deserve it. I am being reintroduced to my regime of anticoagulation slowly. I’ve no idea why because I wasn’t really cut yesterday. However, I am having to have twice daily injections of a substance called Fragmin. They are administered morning and night by my live-in nurse.

I have to have 20 of these along with my warfarin tablets. They don’t hurt but they sting a bit and who wants that at Breakfast time? So, I might not go through the full course. We’ll see. Even so, each injection is administered by a single-dose syringe which is then put into a plastic container which is, ultimately, collected by the Local Authority Hazardous Waste team. What a palaver!

The real joy of yesterday – other than being pronounced cancer-free – was meeting the people. They were absolutely delightful and they were all girls … well, women. Each one was kind, chatty, friendly but utterly professional from the girl checking me in to the team doing the procedure and then to the women in Recovery. I met a consultant who, like me, was a Grecophile, a lovely, young, American girl who lived in a house-share in Brighton with a houseful of medic lads. She was addicted to travelling which was why we talked so much. Wonderful to talk to someone young and full of ambition.

So, this morning, I have written them a letter of gratitude for yesterday’s experience and gone out to buy them some chocolates. I thought they could share them around. Going in this afternoon to leave them at Reception for them. I’m also writing a letter of Thanks to my GP, Martina, who was asked two years ago to get me on the list for a repeat colonoscopy for February 2024. On February 1st, I was phone and invited in. I couldn’t ask for better service. I love them. Today, I love everybody!

Wednesday, 14th February, 2024

Happy Valentine’s Day, Dear Reader. If only. It is grey, wet and uninviting outside. No Valentine’s for me. Too old! Depressing, isn’t it. Come to think of it, I’ve hardly ever had a Valentine’s card. It’s supposed to be anonymous isn’t it? Ah well. Life goes on.

Had a nice, long chat with JohnR yesterday. He is so content up in North Yorkshire. Kevin’s really enjoying his week in Spain. What am I doing? Got to get back to the fun of life. But first, I’ve got to get back to my best fitness and weight level. Can’t believe how much the travails of last year have knocked me back. So, going to spend an afternoon in the Gym. I’ll even get wet just walking across the garden to there.

February 14th, 2023

Our car is exactly one year old today. This day last year was gorgeously sunny when we went round to Honda to collect it. What a contrast. We have driven just 5,250 miles in it this year although we did spend a bit of time away and driving rented cars. It is proving an enjoyable car to drive and the next one will be a plug-in hybrid.

I never watch the scatter’d fire
Of stars, or sun’s far-trailing train,
But all my heart is one desire,
And all in vain:

De Profundis – Christina Rossetti

It is 5.30 pm. Outside is dark, wet and depressing … still. I’ve done two hours in the Gym and I’m feeling shaky. Need to eat. Chef is making Cassoulet for supper. Looking forward to that. Hope tomorrow is a better day on every level. I’m really going to have to start being more proactive and not just let things happen to me. I need to make my own weather.

Thursday, 15th February, 2024

The rain has stopped. Breakfast is just liquid at the moment – a glass of two, freshly squeezed oranges, a large cup of Yorkshire tea and a large cup of freshly ground coffee. I’m currently really enjoying this Morning Ritual coffee bean pack. It makes the claim that it has notes of citrus, floral & caramel. I’m not sure about that but it is No.3 which is mild and not over roasted. My machine instantly draws beans from its hopper and grinds exactly the right amount at the coarseness I choose for a large cup of coffee. I drink it with frothed, skimmed milk.

Of course, currently, my Breakfast is interrupted by having a syringe stuck in my belly. I don’t feel the injection but the substance, Dalteparin Sodium, stings like a bee sting for a while. You wouldn’t choose that first thing in the morning.

Anyway, the sun is coming out and a new day of dieting, exercising and writing is opening up. The temperature is forecast to reach a balmy 16C/61F. We are still alive which is more than can be said for this lad. He was a world renowned Professor of Medical Science. I went to Burton upon Trent Grammar School in 1962. Adam Sillitoe was in the Upper Sixth as I arrived.

He died this week after suffering Bladder Cancer with which he was diagnosed at the age of 71. Like all intelligent people. he had a wide span of interests. He is pictured here at a Bridget Riley exhibition. He was a professor of Ophthalmology and he believed Riley’s art, which has disorientating optical effects – offers a window on how visual perception works and how what we “see” can be framed by the brain’s expectations.

Anita Roddick outside Body Shop Headquarters – Littlehampton

We live in Littlehampton which is/was the site of the Body Shop‘s Head Office. Started in 1976 by Anita Roddick, so many girls of my generation were addicted to it for a while. But, those Boomers aged and moved on and Gen.Z have different priorities. Born in Littlehampton to Italian immigrant parents, Anita Roddick died in 2007 at the age of just 64 . Body Shop was sold. This week, it went into administration. We all have our time, fade and die don’t we Dear Reader?

The gorgeous, Spring weather enticed me out to the Garden Centre. It was all set out in anticipation of the Spring gardening season.

I was looking for seeds to sow – something brash and gaudy to brighten up the street. This year, I am going to grow my own in the cold frame rather than splash out on plants. It will need around 100 + plants so this will be much more cost effective and keep me in activity.

Friday, 16th February, 2024

Lovely day after a late night and a very early morning. Finished with politics just before midnight and started again with politics at 4.30 am. The Labour Party has destroyed the Tories in two historic by-elections with the biggest swing since the end of WW2. There are worse things to hear at that time and I got up with a spring in my step.

I contacted a few friends to share my joy and most felt the same. Politics is too much for some. They’d rather get their hair done but, for me, it is the stuff of life. Certainly, the Tories are doomed and the only question is, will the next election be an existential occasion for the Conservative party and how few seats will they win. Watched a bit of the England v India Test Match and we are doing so much better than expected.

It is my turn to cook again today so I am reprising the triumph I had a few weeks ago. I am cooking Boeuf Bourguignon and had to make sure I had all the ingredients. With 2kgs of skirt beef and a bottle of red wine, this dish will make three meals for two people on diets.

The day is so warm and sunny, we have to keep reminding ourselves that it is only mid-February. The birds, the flower bulbs and the shooting shrubs ought to be reminded as well because they are doing a great impression of mid March.

Saturday, 17th February, 2024

It’s raining again. That soft, fine, insistently soaking rain. We really do have to get rid of this government and change the weather. Ten years ago today, I was just 62, we were living in our duplex apartment at The Pinnacles in Surrey and we were enjoying warm, Spring sunshine as we prepared for our 15th drive to Greece.

The Pinnacles in Woking, Surrey.

Do you remember, Dear Reader, what you were doing a decade ago today, how young you were, how vigorous and optimistic? Remembering, reviewing can be quite scary. These times are only redeemable in the memory. I will never be 62 again.

On the upside and as a person who loves technology, it is so much better, easier, more available than it was back then. We had to work hard to get the Greek language. I was much better at reading it – at my own pace – than I was at speaking it and listening to it at a Greek’s pace. Our new smart phones will be on their way soon and they pack such facilities that we couldn’t even dream of 10 years ago.

Already, we can use Google Translate to do just that with static text and even be given audio hints on pronunciation. Now, our new phones include an AI-driven app which translates in real time so we will be able to talk to someone who speaks a foreign language and see/hear it translated as we do. Never again will we have to rely on shouting louder to make ourselves understood. Quite amazing, wonderful, exciting. I don’t know if it translates American or Lancashire but one day ….

Can you believe that it was just 3 years ago that we were being invited to have our first Covid vaccination. It was quite a momentous week for me. And yet, and yet it all seems so long ago, a major time-shift ago.

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Week 789

Sunday, 4th February, 2024

Sunday is Sunday is Sunday. It’s very samey isn’t it? Sunday papers. Sunday political discussions. Sunday sport. It is all a bit grey as the sky. Today I am thinking about how to stand out from the grey of life, how to appeal to others by standing out, looking good, sounding appealing. I was once phoned by a girl who put on full makeup for the conversation. Not for me, of course, but to make herself feel more confident.

Yesterday, I received my first canvasser for the upcoming General Election. In seven years, the only political party to appear here has been from the Tories … and they didn’t stay long. Yesterday, canvassers on behalf of the Labour Candidate rang the bell. They gave me a leaflet saying, Sorry we missed you today.

Not only did they not miss me but they found it hard to get away. For the first time in decades, Labour stand a chance of taking the seat away from Tory, Peter Bottomley. Even neighbours around here, business owners, who have always tended to vote Tory, are considering moving to Labour. I am encouraging them.

This morning, I have made suggestions to the local party machine for Dr. Cooper to consider in her campaign to take the seat. They are all examples of political lipstick to increase her appeal. I’m going out to buy celebratory fireworks this week. There will be a run on them later in the year.

It is little James’ birthday today. We have watched him from the naughty step to the age of 23. He’ll do alright in the end although I think his rugby playing days are over already. We wish him a happy day. Can you imagine being 23, Dear Reader?

Looks like I’ve drunk the national production line dry of Asda’s Sparkling White Grape Juice – my alternative to alcohol. I’ve gone off Shloer because it’s too sweet. Fortunately, I bought a month’s supply in advance but the shelves have never been refilled and the Head Office say they have a supply problem – something to do with Brexit. We’re going to hear that increasingly over the next few months. As border controls are increasingly tightened, fresh produce especially will become increasingly scarce or more expensive.

This afternoon, while I was in the Gym watching Man. Utd. murder West Ham, two posters arrived. We don’t mess about in the Labour Party you know. I’m going to display one here and put one up in a vacant property in West Byfleet. Well, they’ll never see it from Florida!

Monday, 5th February, 2024

Didn’t sleep well at all. I watched Antiques Roadshow last night and it ran through my mind all night – a night of old fossils. Consequently, I am tired this morning but I have to prepare for a telephone consultation prior to a colonoscopy next week. I weigh myself every morning and I was buoyed by my weight loss over the past week. It is largely down to increasing my exercise and cutting out alcohol. I am a man of addictive personality as you will probably know, Dear Reader. I am teaching myself to get re-addicted to non-alcoholic drinks.

Out of the weekend news leapt the stark and shocking report of the death of another of my boyhood rugby heroes – Barry John. I remembering sitting in my Bleddyn Williams rugby boots at Burton upon Trent Grammar School watching Barry John play for Wales and it was utterly sublime. Just a month after J.P.R. Williams died in his 70s, Barry John died aged 79. He died peacefully in his sleep, they reported but I’m left thinking who the hell dies peacefully at that young age? I’m not going to.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas
Professor John Hyatt

But if you are considering the fragility of life, you might be interested in this man. He is Professor John Hyatt who taught at Rochdale College of Art in the 1980s and then Art & Design at Manchester Met. for many years. He had a parallel musical career, notably as the lead singer and songwriter of the Three Johns, a post-punk band.

He died this week of recurrent neck and head cancer at the tender age of just 65. Really makes you feel optimistic, doesn’t it? Mind you, there are one or two things I am pledged to do before it’s my turn and …. I will do them! Today we’ve learnt that the stupid boy has died. Ian Lavender who was the last surviving member of the cast of Dad’s Army has died aged 77. Who will be next?

Just 15 years ago today, having been diagnosed with a heart murmur, a BUPA heart specialist gave my heart a clean bill of health. It was quite a relief. All the recent studies show that cardio vascular work that I do is not the best for my age. All the things that ‘thin’ in our 70s – hair, skin, muscle – are much improved by Resistance exercise.

Pauline uses dumb bells every morning in her routine. I’ve got to get back into the rowing. I like it but it hurts – which I suppose suggests it is working.

Tuesday, 6th February, 2024

Received a phone call from Gastroenterology at Lunchtime yesterday to let me know the time next Monday I will have my colonoscopy. I have decided not to have the sedation so I won’t be groggy for the following 24 hrs. First I had to go to the Anti-coagulation Clinic to get my schedule for withdrawal from warfarin and re-entry afterwards. The regime has changed now and made much safer with a series of self-administered injections of Dalteparin Sodium to reduce the risk of a stroke or heart attack.

On the other end of the hospital, I went to Gastroenterology to collect that little joy – an enema. This has also improved since last time and has been especially targeted at the middle class patient. It comes in two sachets:

  1. Mango Flavour
  2. Fruit Punch Flavour

This is accompanied by a detailed plan of when to abstain from warfarin, what not to eat and drink and when to administer the injections. The lovely girl who brought my bag of items asked about my current INR which is 2.4 tested by me on Friday. When I told her I tested every Friday and had recorded every test result on a spreadsheet since 2008, her face lit up and and she said, At last, a man after my own heart. The injections are to be administered into the stomach, twice a day for six days. That, of course, will be done by my Social Secretary. I will have my eyes shut!

This morning, another detailed plan arrived. I was observing to myself both that the address label had been hand written not printed and that the process was being wastefully duplicated when I realised they had sent me another man’s plan. This speaks to the stress these lovely people are working under. I had been told originally they needed two clear weeks to write a plan for me and I was asking them to do one in two days. They broke their rules to do it for me.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky

The beach was quite cold and lonely this morning. Interesting how 11C/52F can feel cool in a strong, sea breeze. The beach huts looked warmer than the beach this morning. Didn’t stay long and then drove home for coffee and the Gym.

Wednesday, 7th February, 2024

I don’t want to move time, waste time, spend time, lose time, wish time away but ….. again, it’s been a hell of a long week. Only Wednesday. Is it just me, Dear Reader, or has time been slowed down? Activities are so mundane and repetitive according to the calendar of grey. Wednesday, as you will probably know, is John’s day to strip the bedlinen when he gets up, roll it into a ball and bring it down to the Laundry woman to deal with. At least he doesn’t have to remake the bed. That would never get done. He has a Housemaid for that. This is a normal week.

I could do this for less than £50.00!

Up early on a warm, damp, grey morning. I am taking my wife to the Beauty Clinic for a facial. She found a black hair yesterday and made a panic appointment on the spot. I find them every morning and don’t rush off for a facial. Well, at least it makes her happier which, being married to me, is important.

Everybody has a book in them. Getting it out is the difficult thing. I’ve been tossing ideas around for a couple of years, keeping records, making notes, recording conversations, thinking ideas through. I am not a natural story teller. I am more inclined to the blunt, unvarnished truth.

At the age of almost 73, I want to write out of experience, to write out my experience, to expiate it. I have wanted to do this for a few years but struggled to find a vehicle that suits my style. I am not a natural novel writer but it is a novel form I will need.

I have been watching a four part drama called What Remains. The plot revolves around a decaying body found in the loft of a house-share property by some new comers. What follows is an attempt to regain the past, to understand the present in terms of the actions in the past. The body from the past may be thoroughly decayed but what it invokes through memory is very real and alive. The symbolism in the atrophied body in the attic is a useful image to pin my ideas on.

Thursday, 8th February, 2024

A grey, wet, cool day. A day to crave sunshine and warmth. A day to fly away? South Tenerife looks great at the moment – 25C and sun. Instead, I’m going to Sainsburys – not a good alternative. I am about to go on a liquid diet in preparation for Monday morning. Even so, I’m continuing my exercise programme. Isn’t life fun? At least the South Coast is coasting around 11C/52F night and day for the next few days. It isn’t very exciting. Is it?

I asked my wife, yesterday, how she was. She said, Old & Dowdy! My immediate thought was, That’s going to be expensive. This morning, I am driving her to H&M in Worthing to collect an order of clothes. I have never heard of the shop or seen it before and having been this once, I doubt I’ll be going again. It is quite cheap and down market, unbefitting my wife. Not that I’m snobbish or anything but one has to set standards! Of course, my wife has one basic rule about shopping. Never leave empty handed. We left clutching a new tee-shirt and cardigan. I felt I had got away quite lightly.

I researched H&M before we went and found out that it was founded in 1947 in Sweden. H&M stands for Hennes Mauritz. The girl at the checkout was a vivacious young thing so I thought I would test her. When was your company started? I asked her. Without a pause, she came back with all three pieces of information I had found out – when, where, who? All with a smile. I learnt them for my interview, she said.

I have to eat lightly at the moment and nothing with nuts and seeds in them. From Saturday, I can only drink liquids and on Sunday, only clear liquids. So, the weekend will be soup, soup and more soup.

It is one of the few occasions when we will have bought, pre-prepared food. Actually, our fishmonger has supplied us with Fish Soup and Lobster Bisque from Le Touquet. I’ve tried the lobster already and it is delicious. It immediately brought back memories of a lovely winter week we spent on the French coast and a lunch of griddled Sea Bass outside under a huge patio heater at a fish restaurant in Le Touquet about 25 years ago. It was magical.

Friday, 9th February, 2024

A glorious, Spring morning of warmth and sunshine. There are signs of the season to come with early daffodils in bloom set against the backdrop of the Winter’s detritus.

It couldn’t come a day too soon as my mind has been turning to Tenerife where the temperature is almost double ours. Today we are 13C/56F and southern Tenerife is 25C/77F. I wonder if there are any takers.

Just 8 years ago, we were coming to the end of an 8 week stay in Los Gigantes, on the south west coast of Tenerife while we waited for our new house to be completed. It was our first time there and the weather contrasted wonderfully with the UK winter. We appreciated the warmth so much, we returned for two more months the following years but chosen to rent villas with pools in Adeje instead of hotel living. Oh, to be there now!

Friday, 10th February, 2024

A pleasantly warm morning. The house is a hive of industry. The washing machine is whirring, the tumble dryer is … tumbling, the laundry lady is even putting clothes outside on a drying, framework thing in the sunshine. The food processor is preparing bread dough for the chef to shape and prove. My manager is organising my preparation for the colonoscopy including when to stop some medication and start other medication, what to eat and what not to eat and she has additional duties this weekend because our next door neighbours are going away.

They are going up to London to visit friends and go to Twickenham to watch the England v Wales match tomorrow afternoon. Of course England will win but they certainly need to play better than they did against Italy. I must admit, I would like to be there but I can’t stray too far from the ‘facilities’ this weekend. Actually, I haven’t been to Twickenham since 1967. I was still sane then!

My records threw up this planning chart I produced on this day in 2010. This is the return journey we did 15 consecutive years although it spanned only a 6 week period in the early days and then 6 months when we retired. This one was while we were still in Yorkshire and travelled to Hull Docks for the first leg of our journey to take the Hull-Zeebrugge ferry over night. Later, after moving down here, we drove through the Tunnel which was quicker and cheaper but not as enjoyable.

Milano in quieter times

I loved the travel as much as anything and I particularly looked forward to the driving although it did provide us with some hairy moments. Once, we got stuck in the middle of Milan city centre with mad Italians honking at us on all sides. On another occasion our sat nav sent us round and round the Arc de Triomphe before we found our route and the scariest of the lot was when we had just done a 15 hr non-stop drive, come through the tunnel and our sat nav told us to divert because of an accident on the M25. We ended up in the centre of the city of London. Only luck got us out. Happy Days.

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Week 788

Sunday, 28th January, 2024

The moon was so bright last night that the ensuite bathroom was floodlit in the middle of the night. I thought I’d misread the time. Gorgeous blue sky this morning.

I am writing this in India this morning. Weather’s quite good there as well. Actually, I’m in my Office watching the Test Match as Pope just fails to get 200 in his second innings. At the same time, I am talking to friends. Julie is a cricket freak and is very jealous that I can get the Test match. Kevin is more bothered about the big football match this afternoon on television – QPR v Huddersfield Town. JohnR couldn’t care less about either. He’s off to church. Poor, old lad!

I am so often amazed how far life has come since I lived with this lot. Here I am watching live, natural, close-up pictures of a cricket match 5000 miles away.

1971 Ferguson TV

When Kevin and I shared a flat in 1971, we had a small, black & white set from Radio Rentals and we hardly watched it anyway. We certainly didn’t pay the rental for it and kept getting threatening letters. Now, I am watching cricket on a Sky TV platform through a BT Sport/TNT app for which I pay by subscription.

In the past weeks, I’ve been watching a drama called Criminal Record on AppleTV+, another app to which I subscribe and and a great political drama: The Politician’s Husband on Amazon Prime app which I also subscribe to.



If you add Netflix into the mix, you can see that the old habit of linear television is quickly dying in favour of subscription browsing.

Monday, 29th January, 2024

Very warm night and opening to the morning. Quite a shock to look outside at 7.00 am. It was the reverse of yesterday – grey and misty. Mind you Greater Manchester is really in a mood this morning.

Look at this on Manchester Street, Oldham and is it possible to do a day on the M62 without accidents holding up the journey? It is just unbelievable how bad it has got in the 15 years since we left. There were always accidents and it was getting increasingly more busy but it is almost impossible to get through a day without news flashes about problems.

So often it is in that high stretch between Ainley Top and Rishworth in horribly wet and misty conditions. This morning, it is exactly at the Ainley Top entrance/exit at almost the time we would have been travelling to work. I have to admit, I wouldn’t swap it. Doesn’t encourage you to go out walking, does it.

Amongst other things this morning, I’m looking forward to Spring/Summer. I maintain the lawns around our houses and plant some colour to make the entrance to the Development look smart and coordinated with colourful flower beds. Last year, I bought all the seedlings myself, all the lawn food, and weedkillers. This year, I’m going to grow about 300 flowering plants from seed so I’ve been considering what to go for.

The plants go in the lawn cut outs and under trees. As you drive in to the Development, a sort of ‘corporate’ colour really looks good and ‘united’. I think these will stand out enough. What do you think, Dear Reader? Any suggestions? This year, the residents will have to take over their own maintenance if we spend quite a bit of time travelling.

Sussex Coast …. Sun Capital

Been down to the beach for a walk. Thought I was in Greater Manchester for a while. At least it was warm. Now for the Gym. What has life become?

Tuesday, 30th January, 2024

It’s been a long week. Seems to be going on forever and it’s only Tuesday. Afraid I am returning to medical matters today. My wife, who doesn’t accept blemishes, found a wrinkle on her neck. Emergency trip to the Surgery. Referral to Dermatology at the Southlands Hospital for a check-up. I drove her there this morning and it was a good job I did. There was no parking space. Looked like I was going to be driving round while she was in. At the last moment, a lady in the best spot in the carpark returned, gave me her ticket with 90 mins left on it and vacated the space. There is a god …. well, actually, there isn’t.

The carpark may have been full but the hospital was deserted. It seems to be like that permanently now whenever I’ve been there since the pandemic. How do they do it? We were the only people in Dermatology.

Dermatology – Southlands

The clinic was Day Surgery which suggested they were going to cut out or fill in the wrinkle. A full face lift was going too far, I thought. Actually, she was in and out in under 10 mins with a glowing report. Best skin the Dermatologist had seen on a woman her age. Apparently, some women of her age have lots of wrinkles. Just makes me sick!! Sounds like she’ll celebrate by buying more clothes. Life is so good.

Surgey Online Booking System

A Health minister was talking on BBC-R4 this morning about the increased Internet-based systems being adopted by the Health Service and we have been using them for years. Our GP Surgeries in both Surrey and Sussex have used the online booking system which allows one to make an appointment, communicate with the GP, order prescriptions and be notified when they are ready for collection, book vaccinations, etc, without leaving the Office through smartphone, iPad or computer.

We also use our NHS app and Patients Know Best app for news of Hospital appointments, records of procedures, etc, going back to the 1970s, test results and medications. My Oncologist was shocked to find that I knew the results of the tests he had ordered for me before even he got to see them. I must admit, I like that sort of control the online system provides patients.

What you’re left wondering is how people possibly survive without internet and smartphone access. At the surgery it is used via QR-code for booking in. At the hospital today it is used by the ticket machine for the carpark.

Wednesday, 31st January, 2024

The end of January 2024 already. Well, Dear Reader, it’s not exactly a party day outside. Grey, cool, boring. Don’t expect the Chuckle Brothers to ride over the hill and rescue me. Looking for reasons to be cheerful. How about this:

Things are really looking good for the Labour Party. They have held a large and consistent lead for over a year now which bodes well for the General Election in November. These are the scenes we are hoping to see in the early hours of the morning of November 15th or 22nd.

I pride myself on finding people, places and things that others often can’t. I wrote on a Blog in December that I was looking for an ex-colleague whose cousin was formerly drummer with The Clash and Black Sabbath. Just over 4 weeks ago, I got an address and wrote to him. I’ve heard nothing. I hate failing but I was doing this for a girl in Manchester not for myself.

This morning, I was about to contact her and admit failure when …. an email popped into my inbox from the very lad I was tracing. He lives in Bangor, Northern Ireland and in Edinburgh where he and his wife have flats to be close to their grandchildren. I wrote to Northern Ireland and he has been in Edinburgh for the past two months. He hadn’t joined a monastic community and I’d achieved my contact.

Primary School – Closed for bad weather.

Another reason to be cheerful. We don’t have winter weather and especially SNOW. The Greek island where we lived have had to close the schools … because of SNOW. Incredible!

Thursday, 1st February, 2024

It has seemed a long two weeks although I’m being told I should be happy at time stretching out. Hmmm. It might have felt the days are going slowly but I am still shocked that February has arrived. Dear Reader, you will never see January 2024 again other than in your memory.

I am up early having cleaned the car yesterday. Going to Honda for its first service. It’s only done 5,500 miles. I’m not allowed to take a dirty car in for service even though it gets a full valet by Honda at the end of their work. My wife would have the house looking utterly pristine if she had a cleaner coming. The service takes about an hour and is completely ‘free’ for the first 5 years although I’ve never got beyond two. Going to have a look at the new model while I wait for the service to be done.

It turned out to be quite an enjoyable hour or so on this gorgeous, sunny morning, browsing the new models and comparing with what we have now. I was quite taken with the all-electric but it wouldn’t be practical for us. I’d have to stop to recharge before I got to Manchester and I can’t be doing with that. It will have to be the plug-in hybrid when I change but there aren’t many in the country at the moment.

Two years ago this month, I had a colonoscopy at the Nuffield Hospital. The consultant gastroenterologist told me I should have a repeat procedure every two years. I asked my doctor to put me forward for one on through the NHS. This morning, as I drove home, the hospital phoned to invite me for a coloscopy on February 12th. What a wonderful service! What wonderful people! Hopefully, nothing has had too long to develop over just two years. Anyway, wish me luck, Dear Reader!

Friday, 2nd February, 2024

Here we are in February with no need for central heating. If this is Global Warming, give me more. After quite a hectic day yesterday, perhaps this will be a bit more relaxed.

The offer of a colonoscopy in 10 days put me into overdrive because the hospital didn’t know I am a warfarin user which means I have to have a withdrawal plan prior to the procedure in case they accidentally or deliberately cut me. The afternoon was spent on the phone to the Coagulation Clinic and the Gastroenterology Department coordinating the times and dates for action. By early evening, I had negotiated a plan with the former to allow the latter to do the procedure on February 12th. I am delighted with that.

Actually, I love planning, statistics and management. You couldn’t live with me for long without accepting that. The first of the month means recording the previous month’s statistics. Gas & Electricity consumption goes on the spreadsheet. I was mortified to see I forgot yesterday and had to do it this morning. Bank accounts, savings and investment accounts are all checked and recorded. Blood pressure, INR and weight are all recorded. Exercise data is recorded. The spreadsheet is king. I’m even excited in the morning when my smartphone tells me my shaving technique was 95% Ninja …. whatever that means.

Of course these are the really important statistics. Did you know that Life Expectancy is going down at the moment even as this appalling government increases pension age. The discrepancies between North and South are even more shocking. Life expectancy for women was 7 years more in southern England compared to a woman in Wales. A man on the south coast can expect to live a stunning decade longer than a man in Blackpool. Mind you, that might be a real relief. Who could live in Blackpool?

Poll from the rabidly left wing ‘Daily Express’.

These statistics might improve the situation. At least Labour will address the NHS crisis and make a difference just as Blair did over more than a decade. If we can get more of these lunatics standing, I can believe the predicted wipeout.

The National Front/UKIP/Reform Party vehicle which is seeking a reverse takeover of the Tory Party is showing signs of seriously splitting the right wing. Danczuk, who was the Labour MP for Rochdale from 2010 until 2017, was suspended from the party in 2015 after sending explicit messages to a 17 year-old girl. The Reform Party aren’t that fussy and, Danczuk obviously isn’t either. I suspect even the people of Rochdale won’t go for that.

Saturday, 3rd February, 2024

A grey, grey day. Well, I am dieting and exercising hard. I’m trying to lose the weight I gained during 8 months of hormone treatment. It seems to get harder and harder especially in the long, lonely, winter months. It seems to be going on for ever and I am travelling through a long, dark tunnel to some distant light.

Been chatting to my next door neighbour …. on Whatsapp. They were going to watch England Rugby play Italy in Rome but had to cancel. I tried to cheer her up with examples of the state of British education.

Today is a Sport day: Test Match from India, Rugby from Twickenham and Football from Everton. Fantastic rugby match in Paris last night where (a united) Ireland destroyed the French. Been talking to friends in the North this morning. David Roberts is abroad again – this time in Kathmandu. He really must hate Rochdale!

I must admit, this wouldn’t be my idea of an exciting place to travel. I think my age means Europe feels so much more enticing and enriching. I am more attuned to the language and culture of European countries and, particularly, Mediterranean ones. I like the romance languages of French, Italian and Spanish and, of course, the challenge of Greek. I absolutely hate spicy food and particularly chilli, curry and coriander.

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Week 787

Sunday, 21st January, 2024

Didn’t sleep well last night. Dreamt about a friend in trouble and I wasn’t there to help. Had the radio on at 4.30 am to shut it out. It didn’t do the job entirely. It was about the Gaza War. Not exactly sleep-inducing.

Grey and warm this morning. It’s going to be 11C -12C / 52F -54F all day and over tonight as well but the wind is getting up.

In 2016, we were waiting for this house to be ready to move into. As we waited, we spent a couple of months in Tenerife, enjoying the sun. It was unusually hot, we were told. Lovely to avoid the UK Winter. We had sold our Surrey apartment and all the furniture with it. Starting again with a clean slate is great. A couple of months in the sun researching and ordering furniture over the net for our new home felt really indulgent.

I found this Kitchen Table and leather chairs in … Housing Units in Oldham/Failsworth of all places. We thought we had left all that behind. Of course, the reality is that you can never leave your past behind. It lives on in us and jumps up to bite us when we least expect it. We found our Lounge furniture while we were abroad as well. Sofology, I think that was in Farnborough, Surrey.

As soon as we got home, we drove up to Manchester and ordered the Kitchen stuff, out to Surrey and ordered the Lounge stuff, to Bensons in Byfleet for 4 beds and sheets and pillows and then we found a company online who made to measure and to our design fitted furniture for each bedroom. We knew nothing about them and couldn’t believe when I looked them up that they were a long established Oldham company called Betta Living. I phoned them up and got one of my former pupils on the switchboard. I was persuaded. They did the job.

The problem with all this is … everything is 7 years older. We start to get itchy feet. We start to look at our furniture & fittings and ask each other if they need refreshing. I don’t ask too loudly because I know what the answer will be. The Housekeeper loves refurnishing and especially loves spending money.

Monday, 22nd January, 2024

Lovely, bright and sunny morning. Here, it has felt as if the whole ‘storm’ thing has been overblown – to coin a phrase. It was a bit breezy last night but nothing unusual and certainly not causing any damage. Got quite a few tasks to complete today so starting early.

Didn’t realise there were so many relics residing in Middleton, Manchester but the M.E.N. brought me this news item this morning. Fascinating stuff worthy of research and it is held at Manchester Central Library. I spent a great deal of happy time researching in the Rotunda Building in central Manchester in the 1980s and I’ve often toyed with going back to it.

This week is going to focus on Life & Death, on Wills & Funerals. It will be up to my readers’ predispositions how they view it. Is thinking about Death macabre or sensible? Is making a Will rational or tempting fate? You can decide. My wife has always held to the view that she would never die and with a mother who lived to 96, she may be in with a chance. I am naturally pessimistic. My father died at 49.

We had wills drawn up 36 years ago after we had finally received a financial settlement from a serious road accident in 1980. An experience like that brings one to face one’s mortality. We made a codicil 10 years later and then a separate, Greek will in early 2000. The Greek will is now cancelled but we haven’t revisited our main wills for 25 years. It is time to revisit them.

When my Mother-in-Law died, she had taken out a pre-paid funeral plan which made life so simple. It was almost totally handed over to the Funeral Director with a few, minor additions by us. I thought then what a good idea but I couldn’t bring myself to think about it too closely at the time. I have no intention of dying for another 30 years but I am at the stage where I wouldn’t want to be a burden on others and thinking of taking out a pre-paid funeral plan is worth re-visiting too.

Tuesday, 23rd January, 2024

A grey, rather depressing day. My mind is seeking sunshine. It is ten years this July that we sold our house in Greece and left. We haven’t been back to the island but intend to this year.

Kamares, Sifnos, Cyclades, Greece

At the same time, I’ve decided I had to move our Northern trip – for reasons I won’t go into here. Sometimes you just have to sort things out. I contacted our hotel – the Holiday Inn, Brighouse – and they immediately made the change for me without charge.

They are lovely people who I have known for years – some for 30 years – and I knew I could rely on them. The grounds are gorgeous but I accept that I may not see too much sunshine. There are more important things on the agenda.

In the meantime, I am going to spend a riveting couple of hours re-reading and preparing amendments to our wills. It’s one of the interesting/difficult things to consider for childless couples, Dear Reader. Do you want to leave your wealth to others – more distant relatives – or can you make the most of it before you die? How long do you maintain/increase your wealth in anticipation of future need and what proportion can you afford to blow on just enjoying life as this investment company puts it?

If you are 72, you will know the dilemma. Do you want to die with a huge sum tied up in a property that is far too big for you? Can you face downsizing and, if so, when? How long can you put it off? Can you spend your savings, investments, assets on enjoying life and how do you insure yourself for the inevitable times to come when you need care, medical treatment, social care – maybe when you are alone?

Chicken Chasseur a la Jean

The one thing you can be sure of is that you’re getting nothing. I can tell you that now! But, you are welcome to some of my Chicken Chasseur which I’ve lovingly cooked tonight. You really are welcome, Dear Reader, and it will be good. Come on down … if you’re not too windy!

Wednesday, 24th January, 2024

Gorgeous morning. Super warm and sunny like Summer in January. Going into town to buy a load of bras. Well, not strictly true. My wife is and I’m just tagging along to make sure they fit and she doesn’t spend too much money.

Summer in January

Talking about spending too much, look at this from the DVLA. Unannounced, the Tory government has sneaked in a ridiculous tax on all cars with a list price new of more than £40,000. For the first 6 years of their car’s life, owners have to pay a tax of £560.00 per annum. If they spent it on repairing roads, I might consider it worth it but they just give it to their cronies. You’ll notice they even admit that they are Investors in People …. like Michelle Mone (Can’t get away from bras.) but not investors in roads.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Vehicle_Tax-1.jpg

I am in danger of becoming a Grumpy Old Man. I had to reapply for my Driving Licence last week. I had to declare I was fit to drive. My wife doesn’t think I’m fit to stack the dishwasher never mind drive but I just filled out the online form and a new licence arrived today. It’s like asking a refugee to the country, Are you a terrorist? An exercise in futility. I always swore I wouldn’t get like this. I blame you, Dear Reader!

Little M is 59 Today. I used to play Hopscotch with her. Now, she’s almost grown up! She’s in America at the moment so I made her a card and it’s been Whatsapped to her. Let’s hope she has a lovely day in Florida. Hope she’s not missing Oldham too much!

Thursday, 25th January, 2024

Grey day. Warm day. Sainsburys shopping day. Fresh fish buying day. Very special day. Sainsburys presented us with a Reward coupon. Can you contain yourself, Dear Reader?

I can. Can’t decide whether it is worth congratulations or opprobrium. We have made the equivalent of 2 trips to Sainsburys every week for a year. How bad is that? The reward? 350 Nectar points worth £1.75. It’s all been worth it!

Whiting fillets for fishcakes

Today, Chef’s project is to make fish cakes for the freezer. To do this, she bought a kilo of Whiting from the fishmongers near the beach. The sea looked dark, sludgy and uninviting this morning.

I am continuing to read the Wills from 1988 – 36 years ago. Amazing how many people have died since then. Within the next 36 years, we will certainly have died. The conveyor belt is unstoppable. Fortunately, our chosen Executors are still alive although they’re both knocking on a bit themselves. They both have copies of our wills and have had for all these years. Will they remember where they stored them? They both don’t still live in the same homes. Life moves on.

I have to do my Gym work soon but I’m not looking forward to it today. I’ve pulled a muscle in my stomach and even walking was agony this morning. I’m quite embarrassed at the moment because I get out of the car and take minutes to straighten up. My first paces are those of a really old, infirm man bent double in pain. Gradually, I mange to straighten and stand upright but I can’t put up with this. Anyway, I’m going to work through the pain and see if I can ignore my way out of it. Subtlety, Dear Reader, as you know, is my watchword.

Friday, 26th January, 2024

Gorgeous, sunny morning. I’m pleased to say that my stomach strain appears to be improving although I am still open to offers of massage if anyone is available. Had to do our latest tests for the O.N.S. Winter Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Study this morning followed by a 10 mins online questionnaire.

I should be outside in this sunshine but the time has been allocated to going over our Last Will & Testament amendments. Our Wills were written in 1988 by a Huddersfield solicitor and remain the primary documents. We appointed executors from each side of the families and they remain in place … well, still breathing. In 2002, we and the solicitor wrote a Codicil for each of us to exempt the Greek property and land because Greek law requires that. We used a Greek solicitor to produce an equivalent document as well.

Now, I am going to produce Codicils for each of us myself and get our next door neighbours to witness them. They will represent fairly minor changes of Beneficiaries according to some named individuals having slipped off the conveyor belt of life in the mean time and changing some addresses of existing executors.

Fifteen years ago today, we were coming to the end of our last ever Ofsted Inspection. We had been through about six inspections and continual monitoring over periods of Special Measures/Requires Improvement monitoring. It has always been a nonsense. We were the same school before and after. On this occasion, we were damned with feint praise, Satisfactory which the world called Failing.

Saturday, 27th January, 2024

Dramatic start to the morning. The world was bathed in colour. Don’t know what it means for the rest of the day. It was cold over night but is warming up quickly this morning.

My Housekeeper is going to the hairdressers … again. It is about every couple of months at the moment. Still, it’s not the old, Northern way of having your hair done every Friday for the weekend and coming home in curlers and head scarf. Times were so different and we’ve come a long way since then.

Thinking about that this morning, led me to think about Launderettes. How popular they were if you couldn’t afford your own washing machine or didn’t have the space for it at home. It was no social stigma to go to a neighbourhood launderette once a week. Nowadays, I would struggle to find a launderette never mind bring myself to use one.

There must be one, though, because Michelle across the road came back with a washing basket of clean clothes this morning. They have the builders in removing their 7 year old kitchen and making the ground floor totally open plan by knocking out the walls and starting again. Must be like living in the chaos of a bomb site at the moment and a launderette will have felt like a clean and calm oasis. No curlers in sight though. Obviously maintaining standards!

1980

Virtually completed the changes to the Wills. Just got to type up in a Pro Forma, print out, sign and have witnessed. Copies will go to our executors and to our solicitors. Next, we are going to talk about funerals. I stress that it will only be talk. We probably won’t do much other than make each other aware of what our preferences would be. I am going to store a couple of extra strong bin bags for me. There is nothing else I particularly want. There are things I definitely don’t want – for example, any religious content, any expensive accoutrements and ceremony and I certainly don’t want some party. Hate parties in life. I’m not going to change in death … apart from the obvious.

My photo Memory Box threw up a photo from December 1979 – Christmas Dinner party – attended, obviously by James Bond. It is 45 years ago. Do you remember what you were doing then, Dear Reader? All photographic evidence welcome.

I’m going in the Gym now in a vain attempt to reclaim my Youth other than in photographic form.

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Week 786

Sunday, 14th January, 2024

Lovely, bright and sunny day. Much warmer (relatively) than forecast. Got the car to clean but I’m finding it difficult to motivate myself. Feeling lethargically nondescript. In need of TCL. Think I might buy a new car.

Got to take our car in for service at the end of the month. Embarrassingly, it will only have done just over 5,000 miles. I’ve been asking for a plug-in hybrid for quite a while and I am annoyed that I wasn’t told 12 months ago that one was soon on the way. I would have waited.

Our current one is a self-charge hybrid but so much of our driving is short journeys that I would like it to be done on electrical charge with only long journeys requiring the petrol engine. The new model is a plug in providing around 50 miles capacity which is more than enough for a large proportion of our journeys. When I drive to Manchester or Leeds or through Europe, I won’t be limited because the petrol will come into play.

Apart from plug-in facility, it has lots of nice features including self-park at the click of a button which will be very helpful. About £52,000 is the price so it will depend on what they offer for our car but it’s definitely a possibility. You see, I’m feeling a bit better already.

Alternative Playlist for Builders

Bob DylanDon’t think twice. It’s alright.
Leonard CohenMarianne
James TaylorYou’ve got a friend.
Amy WadgeFaith’s Song
BizetPearl Fishers
PucciniO mio babbino caro
BocelliCon te partiro
AllegriMiserere Mei, Deus

Went round to talk to our builder next door neighbour. He’s a sad kid. Loves ‘House’ music whatever that really is. Makes me feel old. I sent him an alternative Playlist this morning just to wind him up.

Monday, 15th January, 2024

Beautiful morning with a lovely sunrise. Not hot but delightful. Good to be outside in the air. Going to some tile shops to confirm or change our choice of flooring.

Tiler rang to say he would come on Friday so we are going into overdrive to complete our choice of tiles beforehand. Drove to B&Q in Worthing. Haven’t been to a DIY place for so long. When we were buying properties and developing them, we almost lived in B&Q. New houses more or less mean other people do it for us. Thought it would be worth looking at their tiles section.

Sun sets on DIY.

It wasn’t worth it. The choice was spectacularly poor. The store was extremely quiet and we could see why. Little had changed since I was last in one years ago. Anyway, we decided to stick with the specialist suppliers.

Tuesday, 16th January, 2024

Mediterranean Sky of piercing blue and strong sun after our coldest night of the year. We reached -4C/25F last night and the central heating went on this morning for an hour around breakfast.

Most of my friends are in the North of England and I know in the past we would have gone to bed last night in trepidation of the journey we would be attempting across the Pennines to work this morning. We always tried to be the first ones there to start up the school but the M62 entrance and exit were always a nightmare for drivers.

Today I’ve received photos of the morning from friends in Bolton, Huddersfield, Oldham and Middleton. I’ve checked the school’s website and it appears to be open although it is so much easier to reach compared with our old school which was on the top of a hill. The number of times that I had to get out of our car which was failing to move on the tops of the moors in freezing and snowbound conditions I shudder to recall. Dressed in a suit for school, I was trying to unblock wheels.

According to a study by the British Heart Foundation, the risk of heart attack and stroke in the over-60s doubles during cold periods lasting at least four days, with the rise in heart attacks occurring from day one, while strokes tend to lag by up to a week. Data from NHS England shows that heart problems account for about 40 per cent of the excess deaths that typically occur during the winter months.

There are lots of reasons for the link. Lower temperatures in the periphery (arms and legs) can make blood “stickier”, increasing the risk of blockages forming in the small arteries supplying the heart and brain. And any exercise in cold conditions tends to put more demands on the heart

We 72 year olds have to take more care than the young things we once were. I am so grateful, on days like today, to be mooching through my retirement without snow. The Gym is heated and I can exercise without danger.

Wednesday, 17th January, 2024

Grey and cold start – just 3C/37F. Not inviting. Our tiler came round before 9.00 am and measured up for retiling the downstairs toilet and the cloakroom. Now, we can go ahead and order the tiles. Nice lad. First time we had met him. He used to live in Greece so we had plenty of common experiences to share. He is only 40 with young children and a mortgage and immediately made me feel old. He Whatsapp-ed me later to say he could start next Tuesday if I can get the tiles in time. Be nice to just get it done. The whole thing will cost about £1,200.00.

Time and Aging is an insidious process. I was reminded of that yesterday when Michelle, our neighbour contacted me to warn me that her daughter had just passed her driving test. Thiiren (Very trendy name.) was only 10 and still at Primary School when we moved into our new house. Now she is a young woman driving her own car.

She is lucky. Her parents have bought her a small, starter car in a world where BMWs, Mercedes and Audis all sit gleaming on the drives and often in pairs. Actually, round here, most couples have two cars and then work largely from home. On our Development, we are not supposed to park on the road outside our houses which is why drives were allocated with enough room for the cars.

I don’t know what you think about Assisted Dying, Dear Reader, but for years I’ve believed it was an affront to personal freedom not to be able to choose the time, place and method of one’s own death and to receive assistance in that. Recently, my belief has wavered because I began to see the move that way in the Health service as doctors can be inclined to get elderly and sick patients to sign DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) orders. I have personally experienced elderly patients in hospital have their deaths accelerated for whatever reason. I have seen some dangers which have made me think again. Then I watched Truelove which I streamed from Channel 4. I recommend it to you.

Last Friday, I reported that Rochdale MP, Tony Lloyd, was suffering from terminal blood cancer. This evening we had the sad news that terminal was a lot closer than we thought. Today, Tony died. He hadn’t even been home for a week. Hug those you love while you can.

Norden

This afternoon, Dave Roberts posted this from Norden in Rochdale. Makes me shudder with the sense of cold rising from it. I bet Tony Lloyd would give anything to enjoy one more day for a snowy walk.

Thursday, 18th January, 2024

One of those, cold, bright days with clear, blue sky and long, low sunshine. Wonderful sunrise down on the beach.

My phone monitors weather in lots of places of interest and reports in real time what is happening. This was the position of some of them at 8.00 am and it can’t have been too enticing. You certainly wouldn’t be running out in your bikini for a quick swim this morning ….. well, I wouldn’t.

West Byfleet, Surrey-8C
Middleton, Manchester-7C
Leeds, Yorkshire-4C
Bridlington, Yorkshire-1C
Worthing, Sussex-1C
Rhyl, North Wales1C
Coquelles, France2C
Spring Hill, Florida6C
Thessaloniki, Greece12C
Athens, Greece17C

I do have to go out, though. Going to Wickes for building materials and Sainsburys for ‘stuff’. Whatever you do, Dear Reader, take care. Particularly M, P&C who are flying to Florida this morning. We wish them well and hope their flight is ice-free and on time. It’s long enough as it is.

The Tory Party is in near terminal decline. Even as they were trying to distract the electorate with their Rwanda circus, voters were hurriedly deserting them. The latest YouGove Poll of voting intentions illustrates this starkly. Just as the fringe loonies are moving to the extremist Reform Party, so the majority of disillusioned, former Tory voters are falling in behind Labour. In those aged under 50, the swing is even more marked. We are looking to live under a Labour Government until we are well into our 80s.

Friday, 19th January, 2024

A cold night here. My friend, Nigel in Bridlington, sent these from the beach yesterday. It’s not usual to have snow on the beach. The sea is one of the warmer things in the world and mostly should raise land temperatures on the beach edges.

I think I prefer cold, dry and bright to grey, warm and wet. Apparently that’s coming so got jobs to do while it is dry. Today’s highlight is a trip to the local tip. It’s becoming a regular outing recently. Oh, Dear Reader, see what delights you’re missing out on!

We have ordered the tiles for our downstairs Cloakroom and Toilet. They will take about 4 weeks to arrive so we’ve got time to organise things. Because I have no practical skills, although I can see the end I want to get to – a wooden floor replaced by a tiled one – I don’t know the full implications. I do now.

The tiler came to quote a price and told me I would need to employ a plumber to remove the sink, pedestal and toilet which I now know were fitted after the Amtico wooden floor had been laid. I was also told I would need a carpenter to shorten and rehang the doors because the tiled floor would be higher. Good job I’ve got 4 weeks to organise.

I don’t know if you are as mad as me, Dear Reader, (What am I saying? Of course you’re not.) but I’ve started calibrating contracts, agreements, promises according to how old I’ll be when something happens. When I saw this report in The Telegraph this morning, my first thought was that I’d be 93 by the time war began. At least, I wouldn’t get called up. I’m being offered a new, 3 year mobile phone deal which will take me to 76 and my Driving Licence renewal has just arrived to be repeated at the age of 76, 79, 82 …. At least I can do it online now … until Dementia strikes!

A wonderful trip out for Old People …. to the Local Tip. At leat the house heaved a sigh of relief as it got lighter.

Saturday, 20th January, 2024

Good Morning, Dear Reader. Another day into Retirement. I was reading yesterday of a retired girl I knew in the past who was saying (ironically, I think) that:

You know you’re getting old when you barely do anything all day, but you still need a nap so you can continue to do barely anything for the rest of the day.

I can’t bear that approach. Apathy breeds apathy. I have to be doing things, achieving things, changing things, moving forward, embracing new experiences. Can you imagine barely doing anything and then needing to sleep? It may be because she lives alone but it seems a dreadful waste of time. You can do all that when you’re dead. The sun may be sinking down but the moon is slowly rising.

Talking about being dead. I’m not. I’m definitely coming back to life and thinking of travelling, visiting people, looking old friends up and making new experiences. My Patients Know Best account which links with my Hospital and Doctors Surgery account informed me yesterday of my recent blood test analysis which shows an above level Testosterone reading (Not surprised at that.) and a very low level PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) level. My PSA has come down from 7.0 when my cancer was diagnosed to 0.29 now.

I was checking my records and it was 10 years ago this week that saw the death of a lad who taught Geography in my school. He was only 60. His wife, also a teacher in my school, had died of cancer at the age of 55. His Austro-Bavarian parents were dead and he was a single child. A lonely person. He certainly wasn’t someone who I related to at all. He was a difficult character. He gave his life outside teaching to Scouting. We attended his funeral which was attended by colleagues but not many friends.

I had forgotten all about him. Who will remember him? With no close family and those who touched his life tangentially getting on with their lives, who will remember him? I will be honest with you. I didn’t like him but I remember him and his life. There, but for the grace of Fate, go I.

Who will remember me? Will you remember me, Dear Reader? The Nearly Man. Maybe, even the Not Nearly Man.

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