2 April 2026 (Thursday) - Doing Overtime

Another bad night. I got to sleep quickly, but “er indoors ^TM” and the dogs came up shortly after. Treacle settled; sadly Morgan and Bailey decided to have a pitched battle. And once they finally shut up and I nodded off again I found myself in a nightmare in which I was trying to force-feed ham sandwiches to the American ambassador.

I got up at five o’clock, made toast, and once I’d watched an episode of “Derek” I sparked up my lap-top and peered into the Internet. The Artemis II took off last night and is now on its way. And not a lot had happened on Facebook overnight, which was probably for the best. I posted out birthday wishes to the two Facebook friends having birthdays and got ready for work.

 

I set off up the motorway only to find the "Operation Brock" stupidity was back. Here's a thought. Last year our Reform UK councillor said that Reform UK would be putting a stop to Operation Brock. I wrote to him and in his reply he was crystal clear that Operation Brock was a thing of the past. Hasn't happened, has it? And they put the council tax up when they said they wouldn't, but that's another rant.

As I drove (at about forty-three miles per hour) the pundits on the radio were talking about the Artemis II launch. For all that I'm excited about it, the rocket went up, and that was it (for the moment). It could be announced in about fifteen seconds; they did go on about it at length without actually saying anything.

I think there was some talk about how the world is lunging into economic disaster; the so-called expert brought on to talk about it couldn't speak very good English and so the five minute interview was frankly incomprehensible. 

And there was talk about ex-Prince Andrew who's still in trouble and is going to be interviewed by the rozzers again.

 

I stopped off in Sainsburys for a sandwich. I got a couple of bottles of beer whilst I was at it. The self-service till said I had to be age-checked. You'd think the machine's camera which films the entire process would be able to tell I was old enough to buy a bottle of beer, wouldn't you? The moody old bat who had to get off her arse and come over to press the "he's old enough" button made no secret of her displeasure at having to get off of her arse. I've mentioned her before. She really shouldn't work in any customer-facing role. She clearly hates the general public and never speaks, though occasionally there's a bad-tempered grunt *if* she's in a particularly good mood.

I went on to work. Today was an extra day - I'd offered to help out with the new IT system.  In order to test the thing we need to have created various dummy patients on the system. Personally I use "KIRK - Captain" as my test patient. Others use "FROG - Kermit The" or "POTTER - Harry"... Occasionally someone will use "PATIENT – Test”, but I don’t hold with such normality There's probably something that a good psychologist might make of this.

 

For all that I whinge about Operation Brock, my journey home today was easier than yesterday’s. Yesterday I had to emergency stop to avoid the cars reversing (without looking) out of farm tracks, the cars coming head-on at me on the wrong side of the A262, and the cyclists randomly blundering all over the A28. Today I just set the cruise control and kept going in a (more or less) straight line.

 

One home I gathered up the dogs and took them down to Orlestone where we had a good walk. We didn’t roll in anything, or wallow in anything. We did find a dead squirrel, but it was that rank that no one wanted to carry it.

And with walk walked we came back home where we did “FEED THE FISH”. I harvested another bumper crop of dog dung, and had a fight with Microsoft Copilot. I asked it to make a picture of Captain Kirk, Kermit the Frog and Harry Potter sitting in a hospital waiting room. It refused because that would be a breach of copyright. So I asked it to make a picture of a man in a Star Trek uniform, a frog and a boy with glasses sitting in a hospital waiting room and it produced the picture above. Go figure.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a very good bit of dinner which we scoffed whilst watching more episodes of “The Hunt: Prey vs Predator” which has taken a novel twist. For all that it is effectively a game of chase, there’s only one in the chasing team capable of speeds in advance of a brisk walk.

I’ve got a day off tomorrow (it’s a Bank Holiday). I’m not liking working these extra days…

1 April 2026 (Wednesday) - Early Shift

I was sleeping like a log when my phone went absolutely mental in the small hours with no end of notifications despite its internet connections being switched off. Just as I was nodding off again so “er indoors ^TM” took Treacle for a “quiet” tiddle. I wasn’t getting back to sleep after that.

I got up, made toast and had watched an episode of “Derek” before having a look at the Internet. Nothing much had changed overnight. I had some emails… people had been out in Kings Wood looking for my geocaches. I’d replaced a missing one a couple of weeks ago – these people had found the original.

There wasn’t much else happening on-line at half past five this morning so I got ready for work and set off.

 

I drove west-wards through the -hursts and the -dens. It was rather dark and rather foggy this morning. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the war in the Middle East which Donald Trump now claims will be over in a couple of weeks. That bloke says a lot of things… sadly much of which turns out not to be the truth.  Is he bending the truth to suit his agenda? Is he deliberately lying? I realised that my experience of the bloke is purely that which I see of him in the news, but he reminds me of the more feeble-minded cub scouts with which I dealt with as a scout leader many years ago. The rather simple children would just spout the first things that came into their heads. It can be rather endearing in an immature eight year old, but it is rather worrying in a world leader.

I suppose (if nothing else) it is yet another example of the ultimate futility of democracy.

There was also talk about the Artemis II which is supposedly going up later. I hope it does. There was someone on the radio from the Open University being interviewed on the radio this morning who echoed what I said yesterday; the Americans are running scared that the Chinese will get to the Moon first (this time).

 

I stopped off at Tesco where I got a sandwich and filled the self-service machine with all the change from Saturday’s Dog Club. The staff didn’t care today, but the old biddy in the queue behind me wasn’t happy about it. She was giving a running commentary to anyone who would listen about how much change I was putting in the machine and how long she’d been waiting to use the machine herself. For no reason that I could work out it was (apparently) vital that she had to use the machine I was using; the other seven just weren’t good enough for her.

 

I got to work and had a very busy day. I’ve mentioned before that I wouldn’t recommend working anywhere that regularly has “Red Alert” declared. Unlike Captain Kirk’s our Red Alerts don’t involve coming under phaser fire from irate Klingons, but I’d still rather not have them.

I was glad when it was home time. And being on the early meant I got home much earlier than usual.

 

I had a vague idea of taking the dogs to the woods, bit once we’d done “FEED THE FISH” they all went back to sleep, so I didn’t bother.

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up Katsu chicken which we scoffed whilst watching “The Hunt: Prey vs Predator”. It’s a rather good show not entirely unlike the wide games I used to play with my mates in the sand quarry at Fairlight with my mates fifty years ago. And the kit they wear puts me in mind of the seventies sci-fi show “Logan’s Run”.

 

I’d like to stay up to watch the Artemis II launch, but I’m falling asleep and it don’t go up till nearly half past eleven…

31 March 2026 (Tuesday) - Artificial Intelligence

I was up early as I always am when there’s an alarm set. I turned the telly on as I made toast. I always do that  because for some odd reason the SkyQ box takes an age to boot up in the mornings. As I fiddled in the kitchen so the thing eventually came on and was playing a teleshopping advert for a cordless pressure washer. I’ve got the exact same thing in the shed; the advert on telly was misleading (to say the least). I suppose I should really complain to the advertising standards people…

As I scoffed toast I watched an episode of “Derek” and then had my little look at the Internet. It was still there. American blood bankers were posting to the work-related Facebook pages asking social media questions that are common knowledge to anyone who has worked for maybe half an hour in a UK blood bank… I’m sure there must be some competent American blood bankers but they are clearly making a point of not sharing their wisdom with their trainees.

And another friend was posting a six-year anniversary of his leaving a toxic workplace. I worked in one of those… you don’t really realise just how bad a workplace is until you go somewhere else.

 

I Munzed, and got ready for work… in a summer shirt. Now the clocks have gone forward the winter shirts are back in the cupboard and the summer shirts have come out. I’m told that most people don’t have summer and winter shirts. Most people don’t go hunting for Tupperware under rocks, have Star Trek tattoos and more dogs than sense so I’m again in the minority.

 

As I joined the motorway I narrowly avoided being run off the road by a lorry of the Napolitrans company. As I've said before it is a bit daft to drive like an idiot when you've got your company's name emblazoned over what you are driving. I would complain to their head office, but I doubt they'd take any notice.

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the Artemis mission to the Moon which is supposedly blasting off tomorrow. It was mentioned that this should be a big thing for schools as the astronauts who will be on the first manned mission to Mars will currently be in those schools.

Will they?

I'd like to think so, but... I can remember getting very excited when the very same thing was said during the Apollo missions of the early seventies when I was at school. That sadly came to nothing, didn't it.  I can remember a few years after the Apollos when I was at the secondary school's astronomy club. Someone asked the physics teacher when he thought the first landing on Mars would be. The fellow was spot on with his reply. He said it would be when the Americans got worried that the Russians or Chinese might get there first. This was in the late seventies, and the teacher said (and was probably right) that the technology to get to Mars existed back then, but the financing didn't.

 

I stopped off in Sainsburys for some supplies for the weekend and a sandwich. In a novel break with tradition they'd opened one of the tills operated by a member of their staff. I smiled at the nice lady on the till. She didn't smile back; her face might have cracked if she had done so. Oh, she was miserable.

 

I went on to work and did my bit, and came home again. Once home I asked Microsoft Copilot to do something. “Daddies’ Little Angel ^TM” says that the A.I. knows too much about me and I should be careful what I tell it. So I asked it to make a caricature of me based on everything it knows about me and it came up with the photo above on the left. When I asked it how and why it had come up this picture it told me “I based the caricature on everything I’ve learned about your creative preferences and interests. You’ve shown a clear love for cartoon and caricature art styles, bright, happy moods, and playful, whimsical depictions of everyday life—especially when they involve pets, nature, or humorous takes on technology.

So, I imagined you surrounded by the things that spark your curiosity and joy: fantasy books, gaming dice, pop culture icons, and a touch of tech humor. The scene blends fantasy and sci‑fi elements with a cozy, creative workspace vibe—reflecting your mix of imagination, humor, and intellect.”.

 

Well… I like sci-fi and fantasy… but I’m not massively impressed with the Discworld books. I honestly think “Lord of the Rings” is one of the most tedious books I’ve ever read, and I’d never heard of “The Wheel Of Time”.

I’ve no real interest in films; most play for too long.

Star Wars is (at best) over-rated.

I’ve not played any dice games for over twenty years.

I’m a dog person, not a cat person.

I’ve absolutely no interest in collecting Bobbleheads.

And the person in the picture looks nothing like me…

 

I suggested it might try again. It had a go but stopped and told me “It looks like the image request was blocked because the system interpreted it as potentially involving copyrighted material. That can happen sometimes even when the request is totally innocent — it’s more of a protective misfire than anything you did wrong.

Here’s the good news: we can absolutely try again, and I can help you phrase it in a way that avoids triggering that filter.

If you’d like, you can simply say something like:

“Create a whimsical cartoon caricature of me based on my preferences.” “

 

So I asked it to “Create a whimsical cartoon caricature of me based on my preferences”.

 

This time it came up with the one on the right. It still looks nothing like me, but there’s a dog in there. And I suppose fox poo features in my life…

When I asked it what prompted it to come up with that picture it replied “the caricature wasn’t meant to be a literal likeness of your face or body. I don’t actually know what you look like, so I built the image around your personality and preferences instead.

Here’s what guided it:

• You enjoy whimsical, cartoonish art, so the style leaned playful and exaggerated.
• You like forest and nature settings, so I placed the scene outdoors with woodland creatures.
• You have a fondness for humorous, pet‑centric imagery, so the dogs and fox joined in.
• You appreciate creative, geeky touches — hence the dice, laptop stickers, and “NERD HQ” sign.

It’s more of a visual caricature of your vibe than your appearance — a portrait of your interests and energy rather than your face.”

 

I don’t think A.I. is going to take over the world just yet…

30 March 2026 (Monday) - A Day Off

This “clocks going forward” nonsense means I sleep a little longer than I might usually. Last night was a rather good one – I stayed asleep until nearly eight o’clock.

I made toast and had a look at the Internet. There was a squabble about why society shouldn’t give anything at all to anyone who needed help… Some people can be very right-wing and very anti-commie-pinko social mindedness… right up to the point where they actually need some help themselves. I blame Margaret Thatcher who taught so many people that a house was a financial investment rather than something to live in.

And I found out tha the actor who played Young Mr Grace in “Are You Being Served” and Mr Blewitt in “Dad’s Army” came from my home town of Hastings. I never knew that.

I Munzed, and got ready for the off.

 

I took the dogs up to Kings Wood. As we drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the Great Strike of 1926. It was rather interesting… so much of history would seem to have been interesting. Looking back the history teacher we had at school would seem to have done his level best to have killed the subject stone dead. His style of teaching was to read out the text book, and we would write down what he said. He could have made it interesting, but sadly didn’t seem to want to do so.

We got to the woods and waked our usual route. With my hiking boots on (rather than wellies) we went faster than usual with Map My Walk saying I was doing each mile in less than twenty minutes rather than in about twenty-two (or so) minutes. Not that it was a race.

As we walked we met three other groups and said hello nicely. We didn’t roll in anything, didn’t wallow in any swamps, and didn’t see off any rabbits or squirrels. In many ways an ideal (if dull) walk.

As we came home I saw that the petrol station up the road had put up the price of petrol by two pence per litre whilst we’d been out.

 

We came home for a cuppa, I put a load of shirts and undercrackers into the washing machine then I went into the garden. I gathered a bumper crop of dog turds. How can three small dogs generate so much dung?  I strimmed the lawn’s edges and mowed the lawn. It’s a shame our lawn looks such a state, but my attempts to re-seed to with bird seed over the winter have worked to an extent. I might try that some more next winter; the trouble is that poking each seed in one by one takes an age. I ran out the hose (now that the hose pipe ban is over!) and topped up both ponds and watered the plants which are coming back. The pansies I planted a few weeks ago have come to nothing, but last year’s polyanthus are blooming. I might well get some more of those. Pansies and violas are pretty but they don’t seem to last.

And then I packed up and came in. I was worn out, and it was rather cold outside.

 

I Wordled from “about” via “overt” and “onset” (even though I knew the “o” wasn’t at the start!) to get it right with “comet”. I wrote up some CPD. I tumble-dried the undercrackers, then set about the ironing.

As I ironed I watched episodes of “Four In A Bed” in which everyone was matey and friends right up until the last episode when the fussiest one was shown to be running far and away the poorest B&B.

I do far more on a day off than I ever do at work.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up pizza then went bowling.  I sparked up Netflix and put on a film I’ve been meaning to watch for ages. Sadly “Borderlands” was a load of tripe, and I turned it off half-way through.

I’m going to work tomorrow – for a bit of a rest.

 

Oh – and today would have been my parents’ sixty-ninth wedding anniversary

29 March 2026 (Sunday) - Spring Forward

What with daylight saving it was nearly two o’clock before I went to bed last night. Again I popped to the loo while it was still dark, and again Morgan was on the floor wanting to get onto the bed but frightened of Treacle who was glaring at him. I lifted him up, and both dogs settled.

I got up shortly after nine o’clock which wasn’t really quite the lie-in it might have been. Yesterday that would have been eight o’clock.

 

I made toast and wondered what the Alexa was playing. We usually ask it to play Gold Radio which is quite entertaining. This morning it had decided to play EKR Gold which is some obscure European station.

As the radio played some rather grim tripe I rummaged round the Internet. It was much the same as ever. Had no one *really* been out and done anything yesterday? I’m nosey; I want to see what other people have been up to.

I sent out birthday wishes and had a look at my emails, Some new geocaches in Willesborough. They will make a walk for another day. And one in Hastings… Yesterday I whinged about the ones we found being far more tricky than the instructions would have had us believe. Another such went out in Hastings today. 

To find it you have to go to a given location and using a special torch look for a message written in paint that only becomes visible when you shine ultra-violet light on it. This message gives you another location to go to. You go there and use your phone to scan for a Bluetooth beacon. You then rummage in the technical data it gives you to get some information. You then do some sums with these numbers to get the final location that you are looking for. And this is rated difficulty two (out of five). There’s film pots stuck under rocks that have been rated more tricky.

I Munzed, and Wordled. “Rated” gave me nothing at all. “Clung” did a bit better, and “chuff” got me over half-way there, and I got it with “chump” on the fourth attempt.

 

I set the washing machine going and we took the dogs for a little walk. We’d looked at the map and seen two sets of geocaching Adventure Labs running along the canal near Hamstreet, so we walked along the canal and walked back again. We had one minor episode when some idiot took exception when Morgan growled at his dog. He got rather abusive and seemed to take offence that I’d been taking photos of my dogs… he even came back after the squabble to shout “dickhead” at me (albeit from a safe distance).

After that, Bailey’s rolling in fox poo and Treacle’s going in the canal were something of an anticlimax.

 

We came home where fox poo was washed off. I hung out the laundry on the clothes horse. I had hoped to stick it on the washing line, but the bright morning was becoming very overcast, and with rain forecast I didn’t want to bring laundry in wetter than it had gone out.

We had a cuppa with the last of yesterday’s coffee and walnut cake, then I had a little look at the geo-map. There’s a meet-up planned in early May near Wilmington. A drive out, a little geocaching in the village, a hike up the hill and a picnic with a view… Could be a plan.

 

And then I went into the garden. A few months ago I had a problem with algae in the fish tank. I popped six Ramshorn snails in last Christmas and the problem is gone… I started with six snails; I’ve now got twenty or more. Would they do a similar job in the small outdoor fish pond… I’ve tried every other algae cure. I took some of the weed from the fish tank with some snails on it and dropped it in the little pond. Will that work?

I then had a look at the big pond. The aerating pump was running very slowly so I took it apart, cleaned it all out, put it back together again and got the thing working perfectly. Sadly the screwdriver I used to fix it is now at the bottom of the pond… I need a magnet on a length of string to get it out.

Or a new screwdriver.

 

I came in and sat on the sofa. I read my Kindle app for a bit… then nodded off for an hour or so. I hate that. I lay wide awake in bed for hours on end, and when I am supposed to be awake I’m sparko.

Once awake I marked trainee work for an hour or so. It’s something I can do and it’s only fair on the trainees that they get feedback on their efforts. I can remember when I started trying to complete a specialist portfolio of my own some years ago, and gave up as it was taking about four months for me to get anything marked.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up bangers and mash which we scoffed whilst watching more “Throw Down”. It made me think - how do you do pottery as a hobby? The wheel and kiln and drying stuff is going to take up a *lot* of space.

I wonder if I could clear up the attic room and have a go?

28 March 2026 (Saturday) - A Rather Good Day

I slept through till six o’clock this morning, but woke aching. I ache more and more these days. I came downstairs to find Morgan in his basket. He said hello and ran upstairs, but by the time I’d had a shave he was back downstairs again. He looked at me and looked at the stairs so I went up with him. Treacle was standing on the edge of the bed glaring at him. He’s scared of Treacle; if she’s on the bed or on a sofa he doesn’t dare go up. He looked at me again and I lifted him up past Treacle. Once he’s up and on the same level as Treacle all is fine; it’s just the getting up that is an issue.

 

I went back downstairs, made toast and had my usual look at the Internet. For once it was remarkably quiet. I sent birthday wishes to my nephew’s three Facebook accounts and then Munzed. I opened a qrate and got a cubimal (as one does) then Wordled my way from “slept” through “grout” to “afoot” as no other word would fit.

I wasted twenty minutes trying to work out how to change my status in the works Whatsapp group to read “The fat bald one”, and then Steve came on the radio. This morning’s “Guess the Lyrics” was “Some people work for a living some people work for fun. Girl I just work for you”. No. I had no idea either. It was Wham – “Everything She Wants”.

 

We drove round to Repton and Dog Club where a good time was had by all. He played chase, we fetched balls, we had treats. All rather simple pleasures, but we all love it.

As we drove away Steve was doing the Mystery year competition on the radio. Quite a few songs that I’d not heard, and the question of when did the first run of Doctor Who end. I knew that was 1989, so why did I say 1990?

We drove up to Chartham for a little walk. As we’d driven home past Chartham last Sunday so two new geocaches had gone live. Over the week one friend had gone out and couldn’t find them. And still with no one having logged First to Find we thought we’d try our luck. The two of them (and another geocache) would mark out a walk of two miles.

We started badly… Looking for the first cache had us rummaging on a fence just outside someone’s back door. We gave up and went on with our walk. We went up through the village and across fields with a rather spectacular view down to a rusting barn in which there was supposedly a geocache hidden. Having the farmer standing there watching rather put us off searching.

 

We walked along the lane to where the next cache was supposedly hidden. Geocache hides are graded by the hider with a rating from one (rather obvious) to five (fiendishly difficult). This one had been rated as a two. I eventually found it; I think a rating of four might have been more appropriate. But a find is a find. And a First to Find is even better. The cache was named “FTF can name this cache” so I sent in a suggestion for a new name…

Our route took us back past the first cache that we’d failed to find earlier. But having seen the one we did find gave me an idea of what we might be looking for, and we soon found it. And another First to Find too.

And as an added bonus as we drove home we stopped near Wye where a bouncing Munzee garden had landed (as they do) and we Munzed like things possessed until the garden bounced off to somewhere else in the world.

 

We came home. According to the forecast the rain was supposed to have started by the early afternoon. It was rather sunny. As we’d walked we’d gone past a little shop where we’d got a coffee and walnut cake. We had some of that with a cuppa and I counted up the takings form Dog Club. We had twenty-one pounds eighty-six pence. At one pound fifty per dog, how did that work?

I then spent a little while building the Lego hibiscus that I’d got for Christmas. I’m quite pleased with it. As I Lego-ed so we had a hailstorm. The weather forecast wasn’t *that* far out.

 

I planned a little walk for tomorrow, and then Chris popped round. After the little hiccup with the internet connection between our Infinity Tables the other night he thought he’s sort out our router.

It resisted sorting.

But we got out our Table and played all sorts of versions of “Ticket To Ride”. I do like that game…

27 March 2026 (Friday) - Early Shift

With an alarm set I didn’t sleep as well as I might. I was up, scoffing toast and watching an episode of “Derek” by five o’clock, before having a little root around the internet. It was fairly quiet at half past five this morning, but there was a little argument. Someone had made the (patently obvious) statement that out of any twenty people, no matter how they are judged nine will be above average. Not only did most people disagree, most people were very happy to proudly show off their ignorance.

I Munzed. I set the dishwasher going (I forgot that last night), got dressed and set off to work.

 

As I drove to work I listened to the radio as I do.  There are calls for the government to apologize for the forced adoptions that happened after the war when babies were taken away from their mothers simply because the mothers weren't married. Whilst what happened was obviously wrong, as I've said before how can anyone apologize for things that happened before they were born? Are those who were responsible going to be held to account posthumously? Surely it would be better to look at current forced adoptions and stop the totally unnecessary ones before any apologies are needed and sack the people involved. Not that I'm in any way bitter.

And as the doctors prepare to go on strike asking for a twenty-six per cent pay rise their own union's staff are on strike themselves having been offered a below inflation rise of less than three per cent.

I suppose (if nothing else) it made a change from listening to the antics of the demonstrably senile President Trump.

 

I stopped off at Tesco to get myself a sandwich. The shelf fillers weren't swearing at each other. Instead some were leaning against the fridges talking about Lanzarote. Others were talking about how useless they were at using any form of technology; like so many people they took pride in being unable to do the simplest things. The staff supposedly overseeing the self-service checkouts weren't idly chattering though; they were just glowering at the public as though daring them to ask for help.

 

I did my bit… I came home through drizzle. Not bad enough that we couldn’t do “FEED THE FISH” but bad enough to put me off taking the dogs to the woods.

It’s supposed to be chirping up by the morning.

Today has been dull…

 

And after yesterday's debacle I've made a list of what I've used my phone for today.

 

• Alarm clock
• Checking transactions on bank account
• Making payments.
• Playing Munzee
• Playing Wordle
• Playing Panda Saga
• Whatsapping friends & family
• Checking emails
• Getting logon code for works email
• Checking Facebook
• Counting the calories in dinner
• Reading books (on the Kindle app)
• Checking the weather forecast
• Checking the traffic on the way home
• Logging a geocaching trackable

 

I knew I used the phone a lot but didn’t realise just how much… I’d be rather stuck without it. And today I didn’t use the calculator or camera or do any shopping with it or park my car…