Sunday, 7th July, 2024
The first full day of a Labour government and look what we’ve achieved already. England last won the World Cup under the Labour government of Harold Wilson and now, just maybe, we can win a European cup under the Labour government of Keir Starmer.
Not only the football has been facilitated by Labour. The weather I’ve been calling for – strong, consistent rain – has suddenly appeared over night as well. Already, I have very few remaining things to wish for, Dear Reader. I’m going to have to helicopter in the rest.
Talk about helicoptering in, the new Labour government (I love that sentence.) has a primary aim of building more houses – affordable and Council Houses. An emotional Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester was interviewed this morning and pledged to play his part in that building programme. It is what the North has needed for so long and will contribute to levelling up. We’ve had huge, housing development down here for the past decade as demand for commuter homes has grown.
The Telegraph has featured Bosham South Coast village harbour which it describes as a Pensioners’ paradise and somewhere that dreads the warmer weather because everyone flocks there. There are so many second homes that the inhabitants want to go back to the 1950s. I’ve got news for them, you can’t go back but you can revisit and bring the best of the past into the future – hence the helipcopter.
Labour has promised to bulldoze NIBYISM and press ahead with planning reform to enable those houses to be built. An acceleration of the demolition of terrible old housing in the North to be replaced by brand new, well insulated and technologically advanced homes at affordable prices really will contribute to levelling up and growing the economy.
Monday, 8th July, 2024
A depressingly overcast morning. The builders are doing their final day for now. Their last jobs are outside with some re-pointing before the rain starts. Being totally impractical, it’s great to have a friendly team to provide a handful of different skills. It’s even better that we have no outstanding and niggling maintenance problems at all around the property.
It is hard to believe that it is a full decade ago today since we sold our Greek home. A full decade ago since we were part of a vibrant, Greek island community. We have all aged and some have died but these milestones mark the march of history. We have met up with some of our island friends since leaving – in Athens when we stay for a week or so and when they came to London to see us but the cat never made it.
We often wonder what became of the cat which adopted us – rather than the other way round. She was incredibly assertive and demanding but suspicious and distant. Of all those we left behind, the cat was the one we felt we were deserting most.
The concept of Levelling Up which Johnson & the Tories (tribute band) parroted but didn’t deliver is being picked up by the new, Labour government as it pushes out power and decision making to the 4 nations and the many regions. Andy Burnham was quite emotional yesterday about the thought of being handed more resources for Greater Manchester which has gone entirely Labour apart from for two Lib.Dem. constituencies. Unlike Johnson, Labour won’t desert their constituency.
In my reading of local newspapers this morning, two juxtaposed reports hit me starkly. The Yorkshire Live had this ‘shocking’ item of a herd of cows in Ripon sounding like an earthquake as they charged down the street. Must have woken the blue-rinse brigade from their slumbers.
Contrast that with this report in the Manchester Evening News about two gangs rampaging down Yorkshire Street, Oldham, brandishing firearms. Rather shows the differing lives of residents of the shires set against those of the towns and inner cities. These disparities will have to be addressed.
Tuesday, 9th July, 2024
Why does it always rain on me?
Even when the sun is shining
I can’t avoid the lightning
What on earth is happening to the Summer? Another day of warm but damp. Great for grass but boring for humans.
Our street in July looks out of sorts with the year. I’m going to have to work in the Gym. It has been quite a consistent theme recently.
Parliament will open today and the new Speaker elected. All the new MPs will be sworn in starting this afternoon.
The Labour Government …. The Labour Government has hit the road running. Prime Minister off to America. Foreign Secretary negotiating route back to Europe. Morning meeting with all the regional Mayors like Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham, Tracy Brabin and even the Tory Mayors, Health Secretary meeting with striking Doctors, Tony Blair offering new policy areas to explore. The vibe is GO!
It is 6 weeks until we fly to Athens so my instinct is to go somewhere else with sunshine in the mean time. This greyness is so depressing. We might as well be living in Wales, for goodness sake. This morning, I’ve been looking at the sunspots of Barcelona and Naples. I know the school holidays are starting soon so flight seats may be tight especially with the weather in UK. Watch this space.
Wednesday, 10th July, 2024
One minute we were desperate for rain and now we’re not. Fortunately, the day is dry and bright. Going to get some work done outside. At least I won’t have to do any watering which is just as well because our Southern Water Bill has arrived online today and our annual payment will be about £1000.00 which is double that of 3 years ago. Of course, I am being blamed rather than the person who does all the washing. I am preparing a poster featuring my Management Principle: Less Washing. More Garden Watering. We’ll see if it enters the consciousness.
Of course my choices are cheap compared to my cleaner. Just 15 years ago today, she was going to Vidal Sassoon‘s in Leeds at a cost of £70.00. I store these things up you know. Actually, she was going to go back there when we drive up soon but is shocked to find it has closed. In fact they only have two salons left in UK – London and Manchester. Be interesting to find out what the Manchester top stylist charges this time.
Ten years ago today, we were packing the car in the garage of our Greek house with everything we could cram in. Although we sold a few days before, unlike in UK, we negotiated to stay in it until we could book travel arrangements off the island. Anything we couldn’t pack – and we had sold all the furniture – was collected by our friends to give to poor people they knew on the island.
We had bought tickets for the ferry to Piraeus and booked a hotel on the Peloponnese near the Patras port where we would get a ferry to Italy. From Piraeus, we would drive through Athens, out on to the Εθνική Οδός / National Road across the Corinth Canal, through Patras and on up the coast to Kaminia. It is a drive of about 230 km and takes about 2hrs 30 mins.
We had been using the Poseidon Palace Hotel, Kaminia for quite a few years as we drove down to the house and again as we drove back.
Of course, I had also booked a Superfast Ferry for the 24hr trip up the Adriatic from the new Patras Port to Ancona and then Hotels in Parma (Italy), Mulhouse (Alsace) and Reims and Calais (France).
Ten years, Dear Reader. Ten years. What has happened to you in the past 10 years? In the lives of so many of us of my age, there are so many landmarks of people and places, People from our lives die. We have our own health challenges and retirement allows us the time and money to travel. But can you clearly remember? No? You need a Blog.
I’m working on another 30 years after the news I received this morning. Never let people talk the NHS down. The average man of my age should have a Prostate Specific Antigen number of 4.0 and below. This morning the Oncology team contacted me to say that my PSA was just 0.37. I couldn’t be happier but, not only that, I will be reassessed every 6 months for the rest of my life AND I will get a full body Ct Scan annually. What a fantastic service. How lucky am I?
Thursday, 11th July, 2024
Glorious morning for all sorts of reasons. The weather is warm, sunny and beautiful. The blue of the sky is so full of joy. We have a Labour Government which will see me through to my mid 80s at the least. We are in the football final which will make me (a bit) happy for a couple of days until they lose to Spain. I have had great news about my health and wonderfully reassuring news about the ongoing monitoring of my future health from the NHS. I have lovely, caring people around me and at a distance. There is a nagging pain threaded through this which, like a tooth ache impinges and detracts from the happiness but I have resolved to sort that out.
I put on weight over the year of my cancer treatment and I am having real problems getting rid of it. Particularly, I am having problems punishing myself for that weight gain and forcing myself through the pain of self denial. I think my cancer diagnosis and treatment made me see the shortness of life and freed me to self indulge. Now, I’m struggling to break that lifestyle. Feeling affluent in Retirement doesn’t help. I can have what I want. It doesn’t mean I should. I am struggling to accept that but accept it I must. If I’m going to live another 30 years, the NHS may help but ultimately only I can do it.
I have proved that you can’t do it by exercise alone. I try to stay active throughout the day. This morning, I will spend two hours mowing and gardening. This afternoon, I will spend two hours in the Gym. By the time I go to bed, I am tired. The interesting thing is that the tiredness I feel at the end of a day now in retirement is so totally different from the tiredness I felt while I was working. Brain Dead was the end of a working day but not body tired. Totally out on my feet is how I feel nowadays but my head is still lively as hell. It is an uncomfortable combination.
Great news from Oldham … and you don’t hear that very often but the historic, iconic, Coliseum Theatre which was threatened with closure under a pile of debt and a lack of funding has been saved after a protracted campaign by many of the living alumni including Julie Hesmondhalgh. First opened in 1885, the theatre was the training ground for so many well known actors. Charlie Chaplin, Eric Sykes, Dame Thora Hird and Dora Bryan all performed there and it was the training ground of so many well known actors such as Bernard Cribbins. Sally Dynevor, otherwise known as Sally Metcalfe from her 36-year-long tenure in Coronation Street, wrote: “My dreams of being an actor came from Oldham Coliseum.
I had a brief and tenuous connection with the Coliseum in my early days of teaching when I helped out with the Theatre Workshop which was started there in the late 1960s and which inspired so many to go into acting like Anna Friel, Sarah Lancashire and Suranne Jones.
Of course, just as life is on the sunny side, a storm comes along to douse the euphoria. My computer – the extension of my consciousness – updated its software over night and has failed to start up this morning. Although I save everything up in the cloud, the loss of my machine would be annoying as well as costing me £2,000.00 needlessly. I have spent a few hours repairing it and being something of a genius, Dear Reader …..
….. this is how it looks this evening. Back to full working order. It would have cost me £200.00 if it could be repaired by a technician and £2000.00 if I needed a new one. Joy of joys, my efforts have paid off and all is restored. If only all problems could be so easily fixed. Still, as you will know, Dear Reader, persistence always pays off.
Friday, 12th July, 2024
Almost the middle of July already and Life is running away again. Nothing specific on the agenda today although there are always jobs to be done. It rained over night so work in the garden will have to wait. My Office needs tidying and the Gym needs a bit of attention but I will have to send the cleaner in first. It’s a bit of a problem in Retirement which is why I like to be in contact with people from my past.
I am a member of a Whatsapp group of old friends from College days. It’s called Bookends after the Simon & Garfunkel song of the time. It’s light hearted banter – nonsense really – but some is amusing. This cartoon rather sums up the level of the conversation. I must admit that I am more interested in the concept of talking each day to people across the span of time from more than 50 years ago. I try to steer the threads to Politics but I’m not very successful. This morning at 6.15 am, I was sent a message from an ancient man who lives in Knaresborough extolling the delights of Gypsy Creams – the biscuits.
If you know me at all, you will know that I am data/target/achievement driven. I need it. I need a sense of achievement. I pursue it relentlessly. I will not give up or give in. It was something that someone in Business observed when we announced our retirement. What will you set for achievement? I laughed it off at the time but, after 15 years playing out, it remains a significant theme in my life. I look for and set my own targets however minor.
My morning starts by challenging myself to meet or beat an ongoing target. It’s mad, I happily concede but it has to be done. It involves shaving. Last year, after more than 50 years of shaving badly, I bought a new shaver and it came with an app for my smartphone and an instruction video. It completely changed my shaving action and the quality of my shave. As I shave – using small, circular motions – the app monitors my progress. When I’ve finished, it awards me marks or percentages of success in following the guidelines. After a year, I don’t allow myself to fall below 90% Ninja and I try hard to get above that. My record is 97% Ninja.
The shaver is inverted and placed in the cleaner. It switches itself on and runs through a cleaning program using a solution which last for 30 cleans before it needs to be replaced. My phone app warns me I need to change the cleaning fluid refill pot. The cleaning programme is just long enough to clean my teeth with my electric brush. When the shaver-cleaner says 100% done, I stop brushing my teeth immediately. Isn’t this exciting? If I’m feeling brave, I get on the scales in the hope that I beat my previous reading and then …
Down at Breakfast, testing my INR with the aim of being my optimum 2.5, checking blood pressure with the aim of being a reasonable 120/65. Then I unstack the dishwasher and I try to beat my record time irrespective of how full its is. And so it goes on. Sheer, certifiable madness … but it keeps me sane. And so many of my generation do the same. One has to beat his cycle ride time each time he goes out. Another is trying to visit ever more numbers of ruined churches. Another has her hair done every Friday in an effort to banish time. We all fight to control and measure our lives.
I’m getting a bit worried about my memory at the moment. I am having struggles recalling the names of people and plants that would have come immediately in the past. This woman, as you will all know, is Beatrice Webb, politician, sociologist, economist, one of the founders of the London School of Economics, socialist, Labour historian, social reformer and founding Fabian. She is intricately woven through the weft of Labour History. There was a time I could quote you chapter and verse but yesterday, I could not recall her name.
This plant grows wild all over Greece. It is beautiful. I grew it up in Yorkshire although not as successfully. This morning, I couldn’t for the life of me remember its name. I had to resort to Google to remind me of Phlomis. Should I be worried, Dear …. Thingy? Must try harder!
Saturday, 13th July, 2024
Gorgeously sunny morning with clear, blue sky and really warm. Going to spend the day out in the garden cleaning up after the builders. Got to pressure wash the patio where repointing has left cement staining. Even I can do this. The last of the plants I have been growing on in the cold frames are going to be planted out for late summer colour. So a day at home.
A friend living on the North Yorkshire coast sent me this photo from her morning walk in the driving rain as the yachts appear out of a thick, sea fog. The lottery of location can be cruel.
Of course, there will be time for writing, for chatting across the country and for Gym work. The problem with my computer on Thursday is behind me but the ramifications of that breakdown have been to be extra careful with its maintenance. I have had Gigabit Fibre Broadband since I moved in here. As new houses go up in our area, everyone will want the same. BT Openreach vans are constantly parked in the area as cabinets are installed with new connections.
In the past, the more users come on stream, the slower everyone’s connection speed becomes. This is called contention ratio. In that distant past, internet download speeds of 32 Mbps were thought to be good. Upload would be around 5 Mbps.
Now, virtually everything in my house relies on internet bandwidth from house phone and smartphones to radios and TVs plus, of course, iPads, Kindles and computers. This was long predicted as the internet of things. This morning, I ran a speed test and the results were excellent. Can you believe an upload speed of over 100 mbps, Dear Reader? You can whoop if you want!
I’m going to need a few months of sun this winter so I’m looking at the Canary Islands where that is at least guaranteed. This morning I found a set of managed apartments which offer the quality that you need for a month away. I just want to move my normal life to somewhere warmer and sunnier. It has a good kitchen (✓), broad band (✓), Streamed TV + Netflix (✓), Laundry facilities (✓), a heated pool (✓), a nice, big sunny balcony (✓), and a hot tub (✓). It’s in Adeje and close to Siam Park and all the shops (✓). It will be under active discussion this weekend. Thinking of a month before Christmas and a month afterwards.