I was a tad pissed off as I peered into Facebook this morning. Back in the day whenever there was any sort of event taking place in whatever hobby (be it geocaching, kite flying, fishing, oil painting, beer drinking, scouting, snake herding, duck racing or whatever) someone or other (very often me) would spread word of this event and arrange for a group to go up to whatever event it was. A couple of years ago I organised a very good trip to the sea forts in the Thames estuary. Over the last few years I’ve arranged all sorts of trips to London. Before that loads of us would go to beer festivals and kite festivals all over the place. We would go to sci-fi conventions that weren’t too far away.
Nowadays one or two people go off to these events on their own and tell everyone else what they’ve missed after the event. This morning I found out that there was a humungous geocaching event in Prague last weekend. I would be wrong in saying it was a well-kept secret, but I certainly had no idea it was taking place. Would I have gone to it had I known? It would have involved a serious re-organisation of my work rota… but it would have been good to have had the option.
It is less than a week since I was last asked when I will next be organising a geocaching outing somewhere or other… And I’ve been asked this quite a few times over the last couple of months. I’m beginning to take this personally… Everyone wants to come with me when I organise something but no one wants me to go with them when they organise something. Am I getting (more) paranoid?
The plan for today had been more kitchen fitting, but with that postponed we were at something of a loose end. So I hung out washing, set more going, and started a mini tidy-up of the back garden in readiness for Monday’ tip run. Even more carboard and polystyrene to go, old wiring, the old light fitting, one or two now-poggered power sockets, and endless old kitchen floor tiles all for the tip.
Or so I thought.
As I carried the umpteenth load into the front garden I couldn’t believe my eyes. Some bloke was in the front garden quite openly rummaging through my rubbish bags. On seeing me he asked if I was really throwing way the old floor tiles. Bearing in mind they are all split and stained and fit only for the bin I thought that was rather obvious. The bloke asked if he could have them and took them all away with a rather self-satisfied air.
If anyone else would like to rummage through my dustbin, please feel free. It will save me a trip to the tip…
The dogs needed a walk, but mid-day at the weekend isn’t the best day to go to the woods (Kings or Orlestone). But I had a mini stroke of genius. A couple of days ago a set of Adventure lab caches went live at Camber. Rather than going to points of interest In a town or village, these ones take you on an hour’s walk across Romney Marsh.
As an idea for an Adventure Lab it was a stroke of genius. And to be fair it would have been a really good walk if we hadn’t had four dogs in tow. Whilst the humans (me and “er indoors TM”) got to explore new territory, the ground was smothered in cow and sheep poo, and that which the dogs didn’t eat, they rolled in.
With walk walked we came home for baths and quite spectacular dire-rear. Pogo’s rear was particularly dire.
I mention this in case any of my loyal readers might be tempted to get more dogs than sense. Those who have never had a dog have this picture-postcard idea of the loving perfect “man’s best friend which can do no wrong”, Reality is rather different…
As “er indoors TM” scrubbed dung from dogs I loaded up cardboard and polystyrene into the car in readiness for the tip run booked for on the way home from work on Monday morning. We’ve also got an old door to go to the tip. That won’t fit in my car; I shall have to saw that up at some point. Not today though.
I then had a cuppa, and both puppies wanted to sit with me. Both were soon snoring. Rather than disturbing them, I sparked up my lap-top and brought the monthly accounts tally up to date. I have an excel spreadsheet on which I account for every penny I spend. Not because I’m mean (which I know I am) but because I really do need it to keep track of what I spend. Take this last two weeks for example. I guesstimated I’d spent between thirty-five and forty quid. When I totalled it up it came to a shade under a hundred and forty-five pounds. Which is *exactly* why I need to keep a tally.
“er indoors TM” used the new oven to boil up a rather good bit of cauliflower cheese, then went off to see “The Full Monty”. I fed the dogs, and as they snored I got the ironing board out… Then got two chairs back from the shed so that I could put the ironed stuff somewhere… Then hunted high and low to find the iron…
I eventually spent three hours ironing whilst watching episodes of “Orange is the New Black”. Just as I finished ironing so the puppies woke up.
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