31 October 2019 (Thursday) - Hallowe'en

I didn’t have a good night; when the dogs are restless, no one sleeps well.

Once I’d hosed out my sinuses (yuk!) I sat down with my lap-top. After a couple of minutes I realised that I wasn’t peering at it with one eye shut. It was still rather blurry using two eyes, but I could see it with two eyes which is an improvement on the last few days.

As I peered into the Internet Pogo scrounged shamelessly. I wish he wouldn’t, but he is such a greedy dog.

As always I found something to boil my piss on Facebook. A few people who spend all year long pretending to be new-age witches were now taking umbrage at children enjoying Hallowe’en.

I did have a load of “found it” logs on my geocaches in Kings Wood. Someone had been out two days ago and had found the lot. They were gushing with praise for what I had done. But (yet again) here was someone who clearly gets a lot from geocaching whilst contributing nothing. Over a thousand finds and not a single hide.

I took the dogs for a walk. As we went I amused myself by reading the signs attached to lamp posts (mainly because I could!)

We had a good walk; no episodes at all.

With walk walked I fiddled about with Lego for a bit. A little while ago I made up the Lego beach house; today I made a beach to go with it.

I then popped down the road. For a change I thought I might get lunch from the bakery. I’d not been there for a while, and now I remember why. It attracts the “special” element. When I arrived there were a bunch in yellow hi-vis jackets trying to work out what cake they wanted. The nice lady behind the counter was naming every cake they had, and it was only when the cake was named that the “special” people knew whether they liked it or not. Am I being harsh in wondering that they might have had more of an idea had they not been stinking of “herbal cigarettes”?

I got myself a ham roll, and as I scoffed it I watched “Snatch” on Netflix. An excellent film – I’ve seen it so many times. Can you believe it is nearly twenty years old?

When it finished I didn’t want to disturb the herd of sleeping dogs which had made themselves comfortable on me, so I watched another film that Netflix had recommended for me. “The Guvnors” was utter tripe. It was during this that Fudge was sick. He’s been farting quite impressively all afternoon, and I think he might have eaten something disgusting up the park this morning. Still… better out than in, eh?

I activated the pumpkin candle light thingy and put it in the window to let the local littluns know that trick or treaters were welcome. After two hours the doorbell rang.

Over the evening we had half a dozen groups of trick-or-treaters. The kids seemed to be enjoying themselves… I rather hoped we would have had more…

30 October 2019 (Wednesday) - Munzing

As I scoffed my brekkie I peered into the Internet. A family member was again posting rubbish on Facebook. Like so many other people he believes everything he reads on the Internet. Those who know nothing at all would seem to have taken against the 5G phone network because they simply don’t understand it and believe each other’s misconceptions. They then repost (on social media) the inaccuracies they have read, and so the it becomes common knowledge that “eating turnips gives you piles”.

Why don’t more people take thirty seconds to type whatever fallacious claim they have just read into Google and find out the truth of the matter for themselves?

There was also quite a bit of talk on the Facebook page for the Old Boys of the school I used to attend. This year sees the four hundredth anniversary of the school’s founding, and those who haven’t been back to the place in forty years are up in arms about how little is being done to commemorate the event. There was talk about a reunion… I probably wouldn’t go. Realistically anyone from my schooldays who wants to get in touch with me has already done so via Facebook.

I took the dogs for a walk round the park. As we walked through Bowen’s Field Pogo tried to pick a fight with another dog. I wish I had some idea what provokes this. He sometimes just goes completely mental for no reason that I can work out.

As we walked we met OrangeHead and her posse.  They told me how they too had met the “special” lady yesterday who couldn’t understand why dogs need to sniff and bark at each other.

I also found the Munzee that eluded me yesterday

We came home; I settled the dogs then went up to the opticians. When I was there yesterday I’d meant to pick up a copy of my prescription. I’d forgotten so I went back today. I got what I needed; as I walked back I took a little detour down past Kent Wool Growers; they’d had a fire yesterday and I thought I’d have a nosey.

There wasn’t much to see.

As I walked I deployed a Munzee. On 5 July 2015 I was given a little packet of Munzee stickers which has been in my wallet ever since. I thought I might put one out today. And I did. I wonder how long it will be before anyone goes hunting for it?

I had a spot of lunch, and then I struggled to watch the telly. Bearing in mind that I can see things at a distance far better than close up I took the dogs out again. We had a rather longer walk this afternoon. It would have gone better had some epically fat bloke not tried to latch on to us. The chap never said a word, but it was plain he was following us. I couldn’t work out if he wanted his huge dog to play with my three, or to fight them. I put the leads on to my dogs, marched off, and the fat bloke simply couldn’t keep up. If he’d just said “hello” it would have made all the difference, but he was decidedly creepy.

Whilst we were out I deployed a virtual munzee. Go me!!

We came home. I watched the last two episodes of “Daybreak”. It was a good show. I just need to re-watch it whilst being awake for most of the episodes now.

I then binge-watched the entire first season of “The End of the Fxxxing World” because the second season starts next week and I could remember it being a good show.

It was a good show; I’d just confused it with “You, Me and the Apocalypse”.

I just wish the telly would stop moving in and out of focus…

29 October 2019 (Tuesday) - Twisted Specs

I slept well. I went to the loo at three o’clock and when I headed back to bed so Fudge came out of his basket and stood at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at me as he does when he wants to be carried up to sleep on the bed. I went to pick him up and he ran back to his basket and settled himself.

When I got to the top of the stairs I turned round and saw him standing at the bottom of the stairs looking rather plaintive. So I went to fetch him, and he ran back to his basket.

We carried on like this for ten minutes before I gave up and went back to bed.

Over brekkie I had a one-eyed look at the Internet. Yesterday I’d posted a photo on Facebook saying why I was feeling sorry for myself. I was rather flattered to see it had attracted quite a bit of “likes” and comments.

Someone with whom I used to work was bemoaning how fat she thought she was. Perhaps she *does* think she’s fat, but she isn’t. As a life-long porker I get rather wound up by people who are (at best) a few pounds overweight who grumble about how obese they are. Unless I am on a diet which leaves me constantly hungry, I am always a few stones overweight.

I took the dogs for a walk. Eyesight which was decidedly iffy indoors was much better outside. As we walked I had the Munzee app open on my phone (I could see it with one eye closed). On Sunday "er indoors ^TM" had put some Munzees along our usual dog walk. At the time I got “First to Munz” on one and had left the rest for others. Seeing how a couple of days had passed and no one else had been near, I claimed “First to Munz” on a few more.

As we walked we had an “episode”. We met another dog walker in the Chinese garden who went hysterical because my dogs wanted to play. She couldn’t understand why my dogs couldn’t completely ignore her dog like people ignore each other… doesn’t that totally sum up all that is wrong in our world?

Having settled the dogs I walked up to the town. Bearing in mind my iffy vision I’d made an appointment at the optician. I’d picked up new glasses a couple of weeks ago and (to be honest) hadn’t been happy with them. At the time I’d been told that my prescription had changed quite a lot and I’d thought that it was the strain of new glasses that was making me unhappy with the things.

The moment I sat down, the optician commented that my glasses weren’t sitting right. She took them and mauled them about so that they fitted my head better. Thinking back, when I picked them up I’d just put them on, said they seemed OK, and off I went.

The trouble is that my ears aren’t level. One is a good half an inch higher than the other. Consequently my glasses weren’t sitting right; one eye had been looking through the distance vision bit and the other had been looking through the varifocal bit. And so all had gone to cock. Hopefully after a day or so things should go back to how they once were.

I came home via a couple more of "er indoors ^TM"’s Munzees. The GPS was somewhat out on them. Massively out, but that’s the Munzee app for you. The GPS has never been good.

Just as I got home my phone rang. It was the hospital trying to arrange a date for my nasal surgery (yes – that operation I had four weeks ago). This is the second call I’ve had since the operation trying to arrange it.

I explained that I’d had the surgery and tried to suggest to the woman on the phone that there was something wrong with their system which allows this to happen. To say that she was utterly disinterested would be an understatement. She didn’t actually say the words “I couldn’t give a shit” but that was certainly her sentiment. So I put in a formal complaint. As I said in my email “The ENT people are doing an excellent job but are being sadly let down by the team which arranges their schedule”.

I scoffed a sandwich, then got on with the ironing. As I ironing I watched a film. Because I’d watched “Pride and Prejudice”, Netflix had suggested that I might like the film “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”. I thought it was going to be a period costume drama.

It wasn’t.

It was a tad saucy.

So I watched more “Daybreak” instead.

"er indoors ^TM" is boiling up dinner… the bottle of plonk has been uncorked… it’s the “Bake-Off” final soon… I hope I will be able to see it…