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1 December 2020 (Tuesday) - Robot Crocodiles from Outer Space

I had a very restless night in which I was constantly waiting for my father to give me a lift somewhere or other. Having given up driving, he was never going to pick me up. I knew that, but it didn't stop me waiting though. Sometimes I wonder if my dreams are the battleground between my brain and the voices in my head. If so, I wish they’d declare a truce.

Before going downstairs I opened the first window of my Lego advent calendar and had a "WTF is that" moment. For the last eleven years I've bought a Lego Advent Calendar and been very good and not opened it a moment before I should. But the thing's Facebook page has quite a following and by not giving myself a few months grace I really do make a rod for my own back.

I made myself a bowl of granola, and as Sid snored I watched another episode of "People Just Do Nothing" in which it was Valentine's Day. Or "Valling Times" as our heroes would have us believe, then checked out the Internet. Last night I saw that the first puzzle in my Kings Wood series of geocaches has been found eighty-three times. As those eighty-three people walked round they went through the play zone of a Wherigo which takes about five minutes to play, and involves a hundred-yard detour to go get the final pot. But only fifty-three people did that. Thirty people didn’t bother with it.

According to Google ninety-five per cent of the population have a mobile phone and so have the necessary equipment. The apps are free. So why don’t people do the Wherigos? I asked on one of the local geocaching pages. I got the answer I was pretty much expecting. Those that do Wherigos love them. Those that don't do them have all pretty much given up on them before they have even started.

Why did I ask? - I did have plans to make more Wherigos for the New Year. Will I in the light of what I have been told? Probably...

 

I set off for work and was again amazed at some of the terrible driving around Ashford. Why drive with so little consideration for other road users when you have got "VJ Technology" emblazoned in three-feet high letters on the side of your van, or when your number plate is so distinctive? (HY GARY S - whoever you are).

As I drove up the motorway the pundits on the radio were talking about how the Scottish National Party are angling for another independence referendum. Financially it makes no sense at all, but from a viewpoint of nationalistic jingoism and hating the Sassenachs it makes perfect sense. Rather like Brexit.

And there was a lot of talk about how the Prime Minister is facing a rebellion of Conservative MPs who are planning to vote against his latest COVID-19 legislations. The rebel MPs are faced with choosing between what their leader wants and what their constituents want. On the one hand Boris might not advance their careers if they go against him. On the other hand if they upset the electorate they won't even have a job next time. Heaven forbid they might do what is best for the national interest rather than their own.

 

I got to work, and had something of a "macrocytosis" day. It made a change from yesterday which was very much a "reactive lymphocyte" day. But I did spend quite a while pondering on just what it was that I'd had in my Lego Advent Calendar. I considered looking it up on the Internet, but that would be cheating.

 

An early start made for an early finish, but by the time I’d got some petrol it was already getting dark. I thought about taking the hounds out, but it is hard enough work in broad daylight. Instead I had a shower and took a photo of what I’d got out of the Advent Calendar. It would seem that the consensus of opinion is that it is some sort of boat, but in the end I went with what the voices in my head had told me. And from a literary point of view I suspect I can do far more with robot crocodiles from outer space than I can with a boat. But bearing in mind I have absolutely no idea what is to come over the next three (and a bit) weeks I may well regret that rash decision.

You can see today’s instalment of the Advent Calendar by clicking here. Quite a few people have already done so…

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