26 July 2024 (Friday) - Car Service

I slept reasonably well, but again woke feeling rather pissed off and miserable. I’ve been doing this quite a bit lately. I’m OK once I get up and get going, but start the day incredibly morose.

I got up and got going. And made toast and had a look at the Internet. It would seem there’s a load of Adventure Lab geocaches that have gone live for next week’s Mega-geo-event. Created by all sorts of people. Had I known about this I would have been only too happy to have been a part of it. I’ve offered to help with several Mega-geo-events over the years. With the exception of the one in Sussex which was cancelled because of COVID my help has only ever been accepted by the events miles away (I wrote Wherigos for them). Presumably someone relatively locally doesn’t want me involved. Understandable really; I wouldn’t want me involved either…

I struggled with Wordle, then kicked everyone else out of bed in readiness for the morning.

 

The plan for the morning was to get the car serviced, so I loaded up the dogs and we all drove over to the garage. Whilst the car was in I asked the nice man to recharge (or whatever) the air-con, and to have a look at the rear left tail light. There’s an intermittent fault in which the car tells me to have a look at the rear left tail light, but when I do there’s nothing wrong with it. And I asked them to have a look at the cruise control too. The cruise control works fine, but there’s supposed to be an icon on the dashboard which comes on to tell me I’m in cruise control mode. There isn’t.

The nice man in the garage gave the dogs a treat each, and told us to come back two hours later. So we took a little walk round the footpaths along the edge of the Sevington Inland Border Facility. The place is huge, and I saw maybe six lorries in there. Surely it would make more sense to use that rather than half a motorway if there are issues at the ports?

 

We then walked out half-way to Mersham for geo-reasons. There is a geocache there. To be able to claim a find you had to have found a geocache which had been hidden in every month since 2002. I qualified when the thing went live, but what with one thing and another I didn’t get to go for it. And after a couple of months with no new caches going live within miles  I resigned myself to not qualifying for it.

Last night I had another look at the requirements for this cache. I didn’t have to find one hidden in every month since 2002. I had to find one every month from 2002 to 2022. A subtle difference, but I qualified for that Had I actually read what it said I would have done that cache ages ago…

As we walked we met a jogger. Clearly a jogger in that he had trainers on. But he also had a suit too. What was that all about?

 

Just as we were walking past the hospital on the way back to the garage my phone rang. It was the garage. I thought that was handy – we were on our way back there. But it wasn’t handy at all. The car wasn’t ready. The garage needed some part or other, and the garage would need the car all day.

Was that a problem?

What could I say?

We walked home. Once home my watch told me we’d done six and a half miles and fifteen thousand steps.

 

Having been out rather longer than expected the dogs tucked into their water bowl when we got home. I made a quick cuppa for me and “er indoors ^TM”, then cracked on in the garden. I got the lawn mowed, cleaned out the pond filter, tidied up the gravel then fell asleep by the pond.

I then sulked. I had planned to get some sleepers and start sawing them into shape. I had hoped to look at getting pond liner. All of which rather depended on having a car. So I read my Kindle for a bit then wrote up some CPD until the keyboard on my lap-top died. Re-booting sorted it out, but it was rather worrying. What was that all about?

 

With lap-top going again I then strained my brain on another geo-puzzle that went live on Romney Marsh a day or so ago. Seemingly based on cakes, puddings and desserts I *think* there’s some Star Wars related element to it as well. But, be that as it may, how I turn a list of cakes, puddings and desserts into numbers is beyond me.

And then my phone beeped. The garage had sent a video showing how bald my tyres were. Did this mean the car was ready? I phoned the garage… no it wasn’t ready but if I wanted they could replace the tyres in the meantime. And did I know my rear windscreen wiper blade was juddering?

I agreed for them to sort that lot out. I carried on struggling to sort out the puzzle pudding until the garage phoned back to say the car was ready. Six hours longer than I had been expecting it to take, but there it was. I like being able to zoom about in a car; keeping the thing in a zoom-able condition isn’t *that* much of an inconvenience really.

 

With my step count into the seventeen thousands I didn’t fancy walking to the garage. “er indoors ^TM” drove me and the dogs back over there (they were hoping for more treats) and she then drove on to her ex-works summer party. Sometimes I am rather jealous of her. She keeps up with all her old workmates. I don’t, really.

I took the dogs to the garage where they got more fuss and more treats, gave the nice man over six hundred quid, collected my car and came home where I sparked up Netflix and started watching something new. “The Decameron” was only released onto Netflix yesterday. It’s a comedy… and I know that not through having watched two episodes, but because it says so on Wikipedia. I might stick with it; it might perk up.

 

“er indoors ^TM” came home with dinner. At the risk of appearing ungrateful I fed the fishsticks to the dogs. I would have given them the garlic bread too if it wasn’t poisonous to them. It’s a bit poisonous to me too as it always gives me bellyache.

 

And in closing, today would have been a good friend’s birthday. Living where he did meant that I didn’t get to see Terry very often, but the half-dozen times we met up every year were always rather special.

He’s been gone three years now…

25 July 2024 (Thursday) - Pouring Hard

“er indoors ^TM” got up and left me asleep this morning. After half an hour Treacle came back upstairs and squeaked until I got up. She didn’t need me to do anything for her; she’d just decided I’d been in my pit for quite long enough.

As I drove home yesterday the weather forecaster was crystal clear that the weather in the South East would be dry overnight and dry today. It was quite clear that we’d had heavy rain when I let the dogs out, and the forecast had changed to drizzle all day.

 

I made toast and looked at the Internet. The plan for “er indoors ^TM”’s birthday next week had been to join in with one of the activities for next week’s Mega-Geo event. Sadly it turns out that the tickets all sold out ages ago.

I don’t want to detract from the hard work that has gone into the thing, but having been looking forward to joining in with some of the events planned for next week’s Mega-Geo event, it isn’t turning out like I thought it might. Previous Mega-events I’ve been to have been based at one place and all the activities go on from there. This one seems to be spread over much of Kent and Sussex, and involve a lot of driving for those taking part. I’ve seen quite a few complaints from people who had planned to go to the thing by train and stay for the week, and are now faced with either hiring for a car or having a rather boring week waiting about whilst everyone else goes out for the day.

 

When “er indoors ^TM” set off to work it was actually raining. By the time I’d got Wordle on the fourth attempt the rain had slackened off to drizzle, and with Met Check and the BBC giving totally contradictory weather forecasts I thought I’d just take pot luck.

I set a load of washing and the dishwasher going, and we went up to the woods and did one of our usual walks. As we walked my watch did a silly. What it usually records as being a shade under four miles was only three and a half miles today. But we got round in the dry. Expecting rain I’d taken a coat and carried it the entire way. Had I not taken the coat it would have poured hard.

 

We came home. As I emptied the washing machine and dishwasher so the heavens opened. I had planned to mow the lawn, but instead ran round with the Hoover despite Bailey trying to fight it, scoffed last night’s leftover kebab then set about the ironing whist watching a film on Netflix. Captain Underpants is always entertaining.

I then watched the last episode of “Boomers”. An odd series; like so many other series I found myself watching the last episodes because having watched so many it would be churlish to pack up half way through.

With the rain still hossing down I went through the monthly accounts. As always they could be a whole lot worse (is it wrong for me to want to have far too much money?) but they are certainly a lot better than they have been in the past.

 

With the back garden still awash with rain there was nothing I could do outside. I settled on the sofa with dogs and watched episodes of “Four in a Bed”. I’ve not watched the show for a while, but as ever proprietors of various B&B establishments crucified each other for things that they did wrong themselves. Today’s shows featured some chap who wouldn’t shut up about his having won the “Loo of the Year” awards for several years despite his glamping site’s loos having skid marks.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up sausages and chips for tea which we scoffed whilst watching “The Traitors US” in which twenty American so-called celebrities think that shrieking a lot makes them appear intelligent and astute.

 

Hopefully this rain will have stopped by the morning…

24 July 2024 (Wednesday) - Geo-Meet After Work

I slept reasonably well, but was still awake long before I needed to be. I made toast and watched another episode of “Boomers”. This one featured him who played Ford Prefect in the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The actor looks to have lost about two feet in height over the intervening years.

 I had a look at a dull Internet, got Wordle on my fifth attempt then got ready for work.

 

I wandered off down the road wondering where I'd left the car. I eventually found it two streets away. Sometimes I really think we need to move; if only to get off-street parking so I know where my car is.

As I drove to work the pundits on the radio were talking about how the Prime Minister has laid down the law and suspended seven Labour MPs who defied him by voting against his proposals for only allowing child benefits for two children. Whether or not this specific case is right or wrong, it really shows yet another failing with our so-called democracy. In the last few weeks we've clearly elected a load of MPs who must do as they are told or they will be ruthlessly slapped down. So much for our having a voice in Parliament, eh?

 

As I drove up the dual carriageway (which was once a motorway) I kept glancing over at the "Operation Brock" bit in which absolutely no lorries whatsoever were being queued. Again I found myself wondering why the Highways department have trashed a perfectly good motorway. I also saw three cars driving down the "HGVs only" bit...

I got close to Junction Five and joined the queue. At half past seven this morning the queue was already quite long enough. The traffic was reduced to only one lane because of roundabout-widening roadworks. Mind you I can't help but think that the half-dozen workmen might have been better employed actually widening the roundabout rather than just standing about. To be fair one digger was doing digging. But then again there was space for at least a dozen diggers to have been doing digging.

 

Work was work. Getting home after work was just as problematical as getting there had been. With lanes coned off for no apparent reason it took nearly half an hour to get to the motorway. Had there been anyone at all working I could understand why lanes might have been cordoned off, but no one at all was working. And as I drove down the “Operation Brock” bit of the motorway I saw one lorry in fifteen miles. Thet’s not “not many” – that’s “one”. I counted.

 

I got home, collected “er indoors ^TM” and the dogs and we drove to the Leas in Folkestone where there was a little geo-meet going on. With people from miles away in the area for next week’s Mega-meet we spoke hunting Tupperware with people from Scotland and Holland. And I got four points towards the next ge-souvenir.

 

Getting home rather later than usual we had a kebab for dinner. Having had a guts ache all week, that should either kill or cure.

 

23 July 2024 (Tuesday) - Rather Busy

I slept like a log until four o’clock last night, went to the loo, and then lay awake for the rest of the night. When I finally dozed off Treacle did some silly nonsense in which she rolled herself in all the bedding.

I got up, took the dogs into the garden where I harvested a bumper crop of dung, then made some toast. I peered into the Internet as I do. There was consternation being expressed at the number of road closures planned across the county for this weekend. Four major A-roads and two motorways look to be closed. It strikes me that the obvious answer is to only close one road (and one road only) at a time. Get all available workmen on it regardless of what firm they work for. and work round the clock until the job is done, then move on to the next.

Look at the shambles at Coldharbour (M20 J5) yesterday where the roads are up until Christmas. It took me half an hour to drive one mile and there was only one digger doing anything there.

 

I got the dogs onto their leads. Eventually. Morgan is a worry. He clearly loves the walks when we are out, but he trembles seemingly in fear whenever it is time to put the lead on, and when we get to the car and do “Boot Dogs” he cowers at the back. Does he get travel sick?

We got to the woods and had a rather longer walk than usual. I’d had reports that two of the geocaches I’d hidden had gone missing. And they were at opposite ends of the woods. The first one was missing so I replaced it. The second was fine.

As we walked we met another Jackshund – a dog crossed between a Jack Russell and a Dachshund. Like Morgan and Bailey are, and like my Fudge was. This one looked rather like Fudge; a paler colour, but a fat little barrel like he used to be before his kidneys gave up. We chatted for a bit; Jackshunds aren’t that common.

 

As we drove home we saw a car with the registration plate MUM 1. Once home the dogs went straight into the bath. The overnight rain had made the woods rather muddy, and we had grubby tummies.

After a quick sausage roll for lunch I set off on a little mission. First of all to return the frankly useless waterfall thingies that I’d mistakenly ordered from Amazon. The idea was that I did all the paperwork on-line and got a bar code emailed to me. I scan that in the shop that does Evri delivery, and they print the return label for me. Seems straight forward.

So I went to the nearest shop that does Evri deliveries but sadly the village idiot was on the counter.

She said I needed to come back tomorrow because they don’t have the machine to print labels. I asked what time the thing would be arriving tomorrow. She said it wasn’t. I asked her how I would print a label if I came back tomorrow. She said I wouldn’t be able to. I asked what good my coming back tomorrow would achieve. She gave me a dopey grin. I asked if there were any other shops locally that did Evri.

The nice lady in the shop by Aldi eventually printed labels from her machine, but it clearly wasn’t easy.

 

I then had a look at sleepers for the garden pond’s next upgrade. My first choice of places to go to (Wickes) didn’t have the bits I needed, neither did Jewson. The timber merchant near Stanhope had two sleepers that I could use. But only two. And on closer inspection both had great big cracks through them. The nice man there said to snap them up as they are shipping out all their stock to other branches as the place is closing next week. The landlord has doubled the rent.

In the end my last choice of DIY shops (B&Q) had what I needed. Well, not what I needed but what I might be able to use. As I was looking about I saw someone I recognized. The ex-chairman of my old scout group. I’d not seen him for years. We chatted for over an hour. It was rather odd really – twenty years ago the scout group was such a large part of my life, and consequently so was this chap and his family. And now I’ve not seen him for years. There are so many people like that in my life. Which is why I like Facebook – if nothing else it keeps me updated on what people are up to.

 

I wrote up some CPD then settled myself in front of the telly for the evening. “er indoors ^TM” boiled up a very good curry which we scoffed whilst watching the last episodes of “Meet the Richardsons”. A rather good show even if you do watching it wondering what is real and what is made up. Amazingly Kemah Bob really does sound like that.

 

I didn’t sleep well last night. I’ve walked nearly seventeen thousand steps today. In theory I really should sleep well tonight.

22 July 2024 (Monday) - Intimations of Mortality

I slept rather better last night, but was still wide awake at half past four. I lay awake for an hour, then got up, made toast and scoffed it whilst watching an episode of “Boomers” before having my usual look at the Internet.

Yesterday one of my old schoolfriends had his birthday. He posted to Facebook about it, and listed some of our old contemporaries who hadn’t made it this far. Overnight a lot of people had commented listing more names of old schoolfriends who’ve passed away. A surprising number of people with whom I grew up aren’t here any more. One drove a motorbike into a skip. One had diabetes and wouldn’t stop eating sweeties. One went down with the Herald of Free Enterprise. One had a stroke (aged fourteen!) One had an asthma attack and was dead minutes later. One died when the Nimrod he was piloting crashed. One had bowel cancer.  One committed suicide. The class bully had leukaemia. Quite a few people were posting all sorts of nice memories about these people… I didn’t have the heart to point out what a nasty piece of work the class bully had been. But it was a long time ago.

Following on from this I spent quite a bit of time today trying to recall a conversation from years ago. Two of the people in our year at school shared a name. Same first and last name. In my mate's Facebook post he claimed that one of these two had died; the one who sat on my table during physics lessons forty-five years ago. This came as a revelation, but as the day went on I could remember having heard this years ago.  I messaged the chap who I distinctly remembered telling me the news, but he couldn't remember the one who died; let alone telling me that he had died.

I must have heard it from an old school mate I once met on the train to Brighton in 1983 who regaled a list of many from our schooldays who had died before getting to twenty years of age.

The chap on the train said that he'd heard that I had been one of them.

 

As I drove to work the pundits on the radio were all a-twitter about the news that President Biden isn't going to run for a second term as President of the USA. The smart money was backing his vice-president who looks set to get the nomination of her party, but whether or not she will beat Donald Trump is a very different question. The expert being interviewed implied that by stating stark nonsense as actual facts.  Mr. Trump appeals to the rather thicker members of the electorate who seem to struggle to tell the difference between stark nonsense and actual facts.

 

Work was work. I did my bit. Being on an early shift was something of a result in that I got out early. But thanks to the roads I didn't get home with any speed. Works to widen the roundabout at Junction five of the motorway meant it took half an hour to drive the mile or so from the hospital to the motorway. And the utter stupidity which is Operation Brock meant it took another half-hour to get down the motorway.

As I drove through Operation Brock I did my usual thing of counting how many cars had ignored all the signs and notices and had driven into the bit clearly labelled "HGVs ONLY!!!". Last Friday there were six; four on Saturday and five yesterday. Today there were three.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up dinner then went bowling. I watched drivel on the telly from underneath a pile of dogs whilst trying to stay awake. I really need a decent kip. It doesn’t help that after nearly four weeks since my nose job it still feels as though I’ve been slapped in the face.

21 July 2024 (Sunday) - Dull

I woke feeling like death warmed up, got up and tripped over Treacle who was laying on the floor.

I made toast and scoffed it whilst watching an episode of "Boomers" which was rather excruciating, then had a quick look at the Internet to see if I'd missed anything overnight. I hadn't really.

 

The roads were rather quiet and deserted as I drove to work this morning. No one wants to be up and about at half past seven on a Sunday, do they?

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the upcoming American Presidential election. It would seem that last week's failed assassination attempt has effectively handed the election to Donald Trump.

He and his supporters are claiming that his survival was God's will, and apparently millions are gullible enough to believe it. Have I ever said that democracy is a silly idea.

There was also talk about how Third World countries have got the hump as more and more Western governments are putting conditions on the aid money they are sending. Apparently some see it as gross interference with their native culture when an aid package will only be given if a certain country stops persecuting gays or starts educating girls.

Funny old world...

And it would seem I'm going to get an above-inflation pay rise. I can remember being told (over forty years ago) that NHS workers got below inflation pay rises from Conservative governments and above inflation pay rises from Labour governments. Back in the day that might have been true, but I can't remember the Labour governments of twenty years ago being very generous. This lot might be, but there's also talk of their taxing pensions. Ho hum...

 

I got to work a tad earlier than I might have done, and went to the works canteen to treat myself to the cooked breakfast. I say "treat myself"... it was a tad grim and gave me a stomach ache which lasted some time.

Work was work; weekend working is always odd. The place seems strangely empty with only a skeleton staff in. But I was only working the morning. I was home by early afternoon. I got home to find the pond’s water level was down by six inches. A minor issue with the bog filter; I had hoped to replace it all in the late autumn. I might need to get a move on with it.

I ran out the hose pipe to top up the pond, and whilst I was at it I gave the plants a splash. And found a dead sparrow in one of the planters. I was rather amazed that the dogs hadn’t found it. Bailey would have eaten it; she is quite foul sometimes.

 

I then sat on the sofa… and woke up with neck ache an hour later. “er indoors ^TM” sorted some lamb chops and we scoffed them whilst watching more episodes of “Meet the Richardsons”. The show started well a few seasons ago, but it’s running out of steam. Bit like me, really.

20 July 2024 (Saturday) - Hic !

As I drove home yesterday evening the weather forecast said that it would be a hot and humid night and that people wouldn’t sleep well.

They were spot on, but too much ale did help.

 

I made toast and peered into the Internet as I do most mornings. There were petty squabbles about Lego and Star Trek, and endless adverts for Temu who seem to be making everything from children’s toys to saucy underwear these days.

Judging by the pictures I saw several people were on holiday; I suppose it’s the time of year for that. My old mate from Boys Brigade days who moves from hotel to hotel was posting to the world from the Lake District today. He says it is cheaper for him to lead the lifestyle he wants by moving form hotel to hotel rather than having a house of his own with all the associated expenses.

It’s another world, isn’t it?

I got Wordle on the fifth attempt. I also had another dubious friend request.

 

Being Saturday we drove round to Repton and Dog Club. We’d had three people asking about Dog Club in the week, and in a novel break with tradition two of them turned up. So often we have people asking so many questions about Dog Club and preparing us for a dramatic appearance, and then never showing up.

Dog Club went rather well. It was a shame that Pogo had to hump Kai, but there it is.

Having totally failed Steve’s “Guess the Lyrics” competition on the radio on the way to Dog Club we were out late and missed the Mystery Year competition on the way home.

 

We got home. The dogs immediately went to sleep. I counted up the Dog Club money and paid it into the bank, then cracked on. Washing on to the line, putting away the garden chairs from last night, running the shears over my head for a quick haircut, then popped over the road to get some beers for later.

Disaster.

For years the Polish shop over the road has had the best beer selection for miles. Today it was no different to Tesco. Such a disappointment.

 

“er indoors ^TM”  slipped off shopping. I fell asleep on the sofa and dozed for an hour or so until she returned. We had a spot of lunch, then set off to Sittingbourne where we had a rather good afternoon sitting in Karl and Tracy’s garden drinking beer, eating pizza and putting the world to rights. There’s no denying that after six pints cracking the gin open might have been construed as a questionable move, but it was a move I would certainly do again.

We left Pogo there; he is now having a little holiday. We came home down the M20 following a train which was setting off all sorts of sparks as trains do. “er indoors ^TM” said it was lightning; who am I to disagree (as Annie Lennox once sung).

I’ve got to be up early for work tomorrow… right now that seems rather ambitious.

 

19 July 2024 (Friday) - A Birthday Get-Together

I was rather late to bed last night and slept like a log until quarter to one, then dozed fitfully looking at the clock every twenty minutes. This happens every time I have an alarm set.

I got up at half past five and made toast which I scoffed whilst watching an episode of “Boomers”, then had a little look at the Internet. It was much the same as ever.

A new series of geocaches had gone live about an hour’s drive away. I featured in one of the caches; rather flattering to be mentioned. And overnight the people who’d supplied the pond waterfall attachments had sent an email saying they would accept the things back again, which was just as well because they are going back whether they would be accepted or not.

Three people on my Facebook list had a birthday today. I sent out birthday wishes, failed at Wordle, then got ready for work.

 

I set off to work... once I remembered where I'd left the car last night. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the upcoming presidential election in America. Donald Trump has been confirmed as the Republican candidate, and there are moves afoot to get someone who's not in their mid-eighties to be the Democrat candidate. Poor President Biden would seem to be quickly losing the confidence of everyone. The implication was that the American public are being faced with a choice between the incompetent and the incapable, and given such a choice no one wants to choose "incapable".

There was also an interview with the new Defence minister who is today meeting with the Ukrainian president who's got the arse because the UK government won't let them fire UK weapons into Russia. I must admit I was rather disappointed with the new Defence minister. After so many years of Conservatives, this Labour minister sounds exactly the same as the Tories in that he said a lot without saying anything.

I suppose that's politicians for you.

 

I did my bit, and came home. We had a rather good evening in the garden with friends having a little get-together in honour of a sixty-fifth birthday.

A very good evening… the fourth bottle of ale might have been a mistake…

18 July 2024 (Thursday) - Pies, Late Shift

I slept well last night (for a change) spending over nine hours asleep in my pit. That was something of a result.

As I made brekkie so my phone beeped. The car parking I’d bought on the Ringo app last night was about to expire. I hadn’t realized that there was free parking from six in the evening until eight in the morning, so by parking at quarter to six and getting an hour’s worth I’d effectively brought three quarters of an hour’s parking this morning. Woops.

I had my usual look at the Internet. There were a lot less people wanting to join the “Upstairs Downstairs” Facebook page I help moderate this morning. The show has started a re-run on ITV3 recently and the group which used to get two or three membership requests a week has recently been getting a couple of dozen every day.

There was an argument about the correct name of the Post Office Tower in London. Some people were pretending not to realise the thing was over sixty years old. Apparently it is to be converted into a hotel.

 

I munzed from the sofa and captured “er indoors ^TM”’s baby dragon. Then took five goes to get today’s “Wordle”. At the risk of giving spoilers, today’s answer was “Nerdy” – rather appropriate. I wrote up some CPD. CPD (continuous professional development) is something I legally have to do to keep myself up to date with what’s going on at work, but to anyone who doesn’t test blood it would be incredibly dull. But within minutes of having written up an incredibly dry few lines about this week’s newsletter from Oncology Central, that entry had had views.

 

I set off to work... with a few moments to spare I thought I might pop into Matalan to get some more work shirts. They had stuff which was either utterly posh or totally casual. I'll have a look on Amazon later.

Bearing in mind the utter shambles that is Operation Brock I decided against going up the motorway. I took the A-road instead and stopped off at Lenham. I thought I might treat myself and got a steak and kidney pie from the local bakery. I took one bite and the thing utterly disintegrated and sprayed its contents everywhere. It wasn't so much a pie as a gravy-filled grenade. It was as well that it came with a foil tray; I ended up slurping the wreckage out of the tray. Pies do that. If you are ever going to scoff a pie, have a plate, knife and fork to hand.  Pasties and steak bakes are a different matter, but never trust a pie.

I didn't actually go to Lenham for the pie (I wish I hadn't now).  I've got a geocache near the church which has had reports of being missing. I had a little walk across the fields to where it was supposed to be and found it was missing. I replaced it. It was a shame that the people who logged it as missing couldn't have done that. You really can replace the thing quicker than you can write a log saying "it ain't there any more" and save me a load of pie-related arse-ache. But there it is.

 

I drove on to the petrol station for fuel both for the car and myself. Having learned from my earlier pie-related disaster I got a sandwich and a bag of crisps. And then it was on to work for the late shift. Work seemed rather odd, but then ever since I've gone part time it's seemed odd. I'm not quite sure why. I did my bit. I don't really like the late shifts, but there it is.

 

I came home to find my new waterfall attachment (for the bog filter) that I ordered from Amazon had arrived. It was far too small. That’s going back.

17 July 2024 (Wednesday) - Folkestone

I didn’t sleep that well last night. Shortly after I finally nodded off “er indoors ^TM” ‘s alarm woke me, and then once she’d got up, Treacle started barking for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

I got up and made toast. The Internet was its usual argument. There was quite the squabble this morning about a flood relief weir in the far east on one of the Facebook pages I follow. Was it made in the twelfth century or in the 1980s? I would say “who cares” but it would seem quite a few people did care. You wouldn’t believe how heated people got over something so trivial.

 

“er indoors ^TM” fed the dogs and I took them up to the woods. We had a rather good walk round. The place was surprisingly much muddier than it had been yesterday. We met two other groups of dogs, and Pogo’s reaction was entertaining. If the other dogs don’t get in first he screams. But if the puppies recognize the other dogs, then Pogo just stands and watches in amazement.

We walked for over an hour; at the end my watch said we’d covered over four miles.

Getting home was entertaining. We got to within a few hundred yards of home and found ourselves stuck behind the local DPD van. We’ve met this one a few times before; the chap who drives it is an idiot. When he has a delivery he doesn’t pull over, like anyone else would. He just stops his van in the middle of the road, saunters out to make the delivery, chats on the doorstep, then wanders back and drives on to the next port of call where he again blocks traffic in all directions.

 

We eventually got home. I hosed the mud from Morgan’s belly (no one else had a grubby tummy) then sorted a cuppa for me and “er indoors ^TM”. I did dull housework for an hour or so, then spent a couple of hours ironing whilst watching a film on Netflix. “Unfrosted” was rather good -  a comedy about the origin of pop-tarts with an all-star cast including Tyrian Lanister out of Game of Thrones. After this I watched an episode of UFO – made in 1970 and supposedly set in 1980 it hasn’t aged well.

I wrote up a little CPD, then once “er indoors ^TM” had finished work we drove down to Folkestone. There was a geo-meet on the Leas from which I collected a Mad Hatter trackable. And having met and chatted with (mostly) German tourists we took a little walk along the Leas before coming home.

 

Being rather late(ish) home we had KFC and watched more “Meet the Richardsons”.

I’ve got a guts ache now…

16 July 2024 (Tuesday) - Gardening

I had a restless night. When the dogs settle all is well; there’s plenty of space for them at the foot of the bed so why do they spend all night long trying to nudge me over?
 
I made toast and had a look at the Internet. There was consternation on one of the Jack Russell Facebook pages I follow. Someone had been banned because the only posts she ever made to that page were posts begging for money to pay for vet bills. The people implementing the ban took the line that being able to fund a dog was an integral part of having one. I thought that perhaps a tad harsh, if true.
And there was a semi-joking meme about how following the England football team’s defeat by the Spanish, sales of tapas have rocketed in Scotland and Wales… I wonder if that’s far from the truth There’s a really odd relationship between the countries of the so-called United Kingdom. The English aren’t really that bothered about the others, but the others *really* hate the English on the pretext of historical events from hundreds of years ago.
I’m always running into Welsh and Irish and Scots who really hate England and the English despite their living and working in Kent from where they couldn’t be further from their home country but still be on the same island.
 
I took the dogs up to the woods for a walk. We took a longer walk than we did yesterday, and my watch told me we walked a tenth of a mile less. What was that all about? I had a plan we’d been done before the forecast rain; sadly we weren’t. The rain started when we were about a mile from the car. We got rather wet, and the rain stopped on the drive home.
 
Once home I ran round with the Hoover, and rather than having a cuppa I got myself a Magnum ice cream from the shop over the road. They are two and a half quid each these days. Can you believe it?
I scoffed it as I watched drivel on the telly, and with drivel watched and ice cream scoffed I went into the garden and pootled. I trimmed the lawn edges, mowed the lawn, kicked the gravel to some semblance of tidiness, then did something I’ve been meaning to do for years.
We laid all the stones round the pond on 9 April 2007, and over the intervening seventeen years the world and his wife has felt obliged to throw the stones into the pond. I got a net and hoiked quite a few out. The trouble is that it isn’t easy to get to the bottom of the pond what with pumps and hoses and leccie cables all over the place, but I got quite a lot out.
As is always the way when working in the garden after four hours I was worn out, and the garden looked just the same as when I’d started.
 
I fed the fish, spent a little while staring at the pond, then looking at Amazon. My pond’s bog filter isn’t big enough. I’ve twice tried to expand it, and both times I’ve made the mistake of trying to do so on the cheap. The first time I bought things which simply didn’t fit, and ended up throwing good money after bad and building a second pond. The second time I bought a cheap tank which I bodged into place but didn’t bother putting in the effort to sink it in the ground and I’ve got something which will look OK all the time that plants are in full growth (as they are now) but will look dreadful in a couple of months’ time.
I’ve bought a couple of waterfall blades. Once they arrive I shall get some sleepers that fit them. Then in the autumn I shall spend a couple of days doing some serious carpentry and digging a hole.
I also got a small hand-held pressure washer as setting up my current one is too much arse ache, more armpit squirt and a couple of bottles of smelly. I’ve been sweating a lot recently and don’t want to be whiffy(!)
 
I then dozed until “er indoors ^TM” boiled up some dinner which we scoffed whilst watching the most recent series of “Meet the Richardsons”.
Supposedly the Richardsons have split up… I can’t help but wonder if this is something purely for the telly show. 

15 July 2024 (Monday) - St Swithin's Day

I slept reasonably well. Periodically I wonder about moving house; an en-suite would be nice as it is quite a trek to the toilet in the night.

I had a rather quick brekkie this morning then popped down the road to the dentist to see if I could get an appointment today. This week’s receptionist (there’s someone new every time I go) seemed surprised I went to the surgery rather than phoning; I asked if she’d ever phoned the surgery and she gave me a rather embarrassed smile. They said they could fit me in at lunch time, so I went home, put a load of washing in to scrub and took the dogs out.

 

As we drove to the woods the pundits on the radio were talking about last night’s big football game. It turned out that the England team didn’t win, so there’s no Bank Holiday to be had. There was talk about the manager of the England team being sacked because of the defeat. I don’t know much about it, but it strikes me that being a football team manager is a thankless task; they seem to get sacked very regularly.

 

We got to the woods; we had a rather good walk. One of our usual ones that didn’t take the slope down and the consequential slope back up again. It was a shame that Treacle had to wade through the swamp, but that’s what she does.

After four miles we were back at the car. We met a few other dogs; I wish Pogo wouldn’t scream at them. He didn’t bark or go up to them or be in any way annoying or threatening. He just screamed. He does that. I wish he wouldn’t.

 

We came home. I pegged out the washing, put more in and made us both a cuppa. There was a minor disaster in that when we wrote the shopping list yesterday we forgot we’d run out of biccies. Fortunately we’ve a job lot of expired Snickers bars from the Bargain Warehouse, so we had one of those each.

I had my root round the Internet rather later than usual today. But it was much the same as ever. People were arguing about garden ponds, crackpot religions, dogs, Star Trek…

Google told me that I am one of the top ten pub reviewers…

I saw someone I used to know was moving house today. He and his nearest and dearest have sold up and are moving hundreds of miles away to start a new life. Quite a few friends have done this over the last few months and years. Wales, Scotland, East Anglia, the West Country…people want to be anywhere but the South East it would seem. Some people moved to be with family and friends. Some moved for a job. Some are going home. Others just took a leap into the unknown, which is rather brave.

Sometimes I think I’d like to move house. Somewhere with off-street parking and a chodbin closer to my pit. But where… either Ashford, or *just possibly* (but incredibly unlikely) back to Hastings. I suppose I took a leap of faith when I moved from Hastings to Folkestone all those years ago, and another when I went from Folkestone to Ashford. But I was young and brave then.

 

I went down the road to the dentist where the waiting room was rather full. But again like with any medical appointment the person having the appointment had brought along an entire tribe to keep them company.

With my gob fixed I then went on to the pet shop to get some odds and sods, and as I was in there so the drizzle started. I came home to find “er indoors ^TM” had brought in the washing from the line. Together with that which was in the washing machine I struggled to find space to air out all the damp washing.

With damp washing spaced out we had a cuppa with biccies. “er indoors ^TM” daid we had biccies; I just couldn’t find them.

 

I then cracked on with something I’ve been meaning to do for ages; a general little tidy up round the chodbin. Wiping the blind took twenty minutes. I washed the walls down, scrubbed the skirting boards and generally tidies up a bit. It took an hour and at the end I was knackered and, like gardening, it looked just the same as it did when I started.

I then spent an hour writing up CPD. As I wrote up I kept glancing out of the window. In the great scheme of things cleaning the bathroom and writing CPD had been pencilled in for tomorrow. Today was supped to be an “in the garden” afternoon. But I’d come home from the pet shop in the drizzle, and the radio was giving yellow warnings of rain and thunderstorms. However the rain stopped about ten minutes after I got home, and the afternoon was rather dry.

 

“er indoors ^TM” sorted dinner then went bowling. I’ve settled myself in front of the telly for the evening.

This forecast torrential rain hasn’t come yet. I wonder if it will? After all, if it rains hard today, it will supposedly rain all summer.

14 July 2024 (Sunday) - Cheeky FTF

Last night I saw that the First to Find was still waiting on that geo-puzzle I solved yesterday, so my plan for the morning was to wake at dawn, nip down to the marsh to find it and be back in bed before anyone realized I’d gone.

However far too much ale and port yesterday meant that it was nearly ten o’clock before I rose from my pit.

 

I had a little look in the garden when I got up. Yesterday I’d put two loads of washing onto the line which both got soaked in yesterday’s rain. This morning they were drying nicely. This weekend’s weather is typical for the second weekend of July. In years gone by we would have gone to Brighton Kite Festival for the second weekend of July and we would have had one day of glorious sunshine and one day of torrential rain. Every time.

I made toast and had a look at the Internet as I do. It was still there.

Seeing that the First to Find was still waiting on that cache on the marsh we took the dogs down to the marsh to see if we might get it. We parked up, and according to the map we had to follow a footpath across the fields for a little way, so the dogs got a little run. We got to where the GPS said that the geocache was. I saw a likely looking place, and after a minute or so it was in my hand. No one else had signed it. We were first. Result.

We then went on for a minor wander round Lydd, then took a rather circuitous route home.

 

Once home, seeing the laundry on the line had dried I put still more in to wash, then with “er indoors ^TM” off shopping I spent a little while generally tidying up around the house before having a cheeky little doze on the sofa. I seem to be doing that more and more just lately. Dozing on the sofa that is, not tidying up.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a rather good bit of dinner which we washed down with a bottle of Sainsbury’s claret. It went down rather well as I carried on washing undercrackers. As the rest of the country was busy shouting at the telly, I was washing undercrackers.

This evening the England football team was playing in the final of some big European tournament. I only mention this because there is talk that if the England team win (note that’s “the England team” and *not* “England”) then the Prime Minister might get the King to give us all an extra Bank Holiday. I have no interest whatsoever in the football, but I’m quite keen on getting a bonus Bank Holiday. Or half of one I suppose, as I now only work part time.

 

And I’ve lost half a tooth. I’ll go bother the dentist in the morning.

13 July 2024 (Saturday) - Rather Busy

I slept reasonably well; of all the dogs little Bailey takes up an awful lot of bed space when she puts her mind to it.

I made toast and had a look at a rather dull internet. Not much was going on at all really. I spent a few minutes wrestling with a geocaching puzzle that went live yesterday. I have an idea what it is all about, but turning that idea into longitude and latitude wasn’t going as well as it might until I had a sudden stroke of genius. Ironically with no finds having been logged I might have had a First to Find, but I wouldn’t have got to the Romney Marsh and back before Dog Club…

 

We drove to Dog Club. As we drove Steve was on the radio doing the guess the lyrics competition. I didn’t have a clue.

Dog club was fun. Pogo came along. He spent the first few minutes on his lead as he was finding it all a bit too much, but after a few minutes he joined in. All dogs find it a bit much to begin with, but soon get the hang of it.

As we came home I got the Mystery Year competition right on the second attempt. When was the last Jeeves and Wooster series made for the telly? 1990.

 

“er indoors ^TM” set off to craft club. I took the dogs home and had a busy morning. I washed the fox poo off of Bailey, hung out the washing and put more in, generally tidied up and threw away, and ran round with the Hoover. By the time “er indoors ^TM” came back from craft club I was worn out.

 

We loaded ourselves and the dogs into the car and set off to Tudeley; a small village near Tonbridge. We took mostly the route I take when working on Pembury, and as always the roads were a nightmare with totally unnecessary temporary traffic lights seemingly everywhere. But we weren’t *that* late.

We had a rather good afternoon sitting in the sunshine drinking beer and port and chatting… up until the torrential rain stopped play.

 

Amazingly I stayed awake as we drove home, and it wasn’t long before Steve, Sarah and Chris came round and we had a very good evening on the Infinity tale playing “Sorry”, “Ticket to Ride” and Game of Life”.

 

A very good day…

12 July 2024 (Friday) - Back to Work

The dogs didn’t settle last night, and consequently neither did I. “er indoors ^TM” had something of a fight with them shortly after three o’clock, and I then lay awake for the rest of the night. I gave up trying to sleep and sparked up Netflix. I watched the first episode of “Boomers” which passed half an hour, then had my usual root around the Internet. Apart from a very dubious friend request on Facebook, this morning it was rather dull. I sent out a couple of birthday wishes then got ready for work.

 

As I walked to the car it was hossing down. So different to yesterday. I drove off, then spent a couple of minutes waiting for the car in front to get past the bin lorry. In a novel break with tradition the bin lorry was stopped by the pavement with plenty of space for cars to pass. Sadly despite two feet clearance on either side, the car in front was reluctant to go forward. Eventually we got going, and I took a little trip round the town Munzing Points of Interest as I do.

 

As I drove up what was once a motorway the pundits on the radio were talking about President Biden's rather iffy performance yesterday. With no end of influential people showing great concerns about the President's ability, in a speech yesterday the chap confused the names of the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and then went on to confuse the names of the vice-president and Donald Trump. At over eighty years old does he seriously want to be President for another five years even if he is fit enough?

 

The rain had eased off as I got to work. Going back to work wasn't the original plan for today. Originally the surgeon told me he would sign me off for three weeks which meant going back to work next Thursday. However the paperwork he gave my GP said to take two weeks off.  I spoke to the GP who signed me off for two weeks and two days. A rather odd amount?

So I went back to work today. I found myself thinking about going back to work after prolonged time off when I used to work in Canterbury, when I would feel physically sick at the prospect of turning up there. I had been rather looking forward to going in today. Being happy in your workplace is such a bonus.

Mind you there had been some changes. There was a new set of shelves behind one of the analysers, and a new bogroll holder in the gents. Perhaps rather trivial in the great scheme of things, but I don't do change very well.

 

Work was work. No cake, but we had cookies. I also had an interesting conversation with a colleague. Just lately we've been watching episode of "Race Across the World" in the evenings. If I were to be a contestant I've been very vocal about how I would save money on accommodation costs by taking night buses.  “er indoors ^TM”  is probably getting sick of hearing me banging on about it. My colleague is off to Glasgow tomorrow. He's not taking the night train or the night bus but going during the day.

The night bus is just like any old bus in which you sit bolt upright all night long. There used to be a proper night bus with bunks but even at twenty quid from London to Glasgow not enough people were using it to make it financially viable. And the seats on the night train don't recline enough so that you can sleep. You can spend three hundred quid on a cabin on the night train if you want, but at that price you might as well fly. Travelling at night would seem to be (quite literal) arse-ache at best.

And one of the hospital's therapy dogs came in to visit us at lunch time. I'm not sure what I was expecting from a therapy dog, but compared to my wolf-pack it seemed rather quiet and subdued.

 

Work was rather hard work – I’m glad I’m not back till next Thursday.

11 July 2024 (Thursday) - Penshurst

As is always the way, with an alarm set I didn’t sleep well and saw every hour of the night. I eventually gave up trying to sleep, got up, made toast and had my usual look at the Internet. It was still there. Apparently the England football team won some match or other last night. A rather important match judging by all the fuss. Even the Prime Minister was getting excited about it.

I wish I could see what everyone else sees in football; it really is a matter of the utmost indifference to me. 

 

Leaving “er indoors ^TM” and the dogs fast asleep I got myself organized and set off. I had a little Munzee mission round Ashford before popping in to Sainsbury’s to get a sandwich for the day, then I headed off to Penshurst. The sat-nav said I might like to go via the motorway. I did as I was told (it is always a good move in life) and soon found that “Operation Brock” had been re-activated.

In theory “Operation Brock” is a brilliant idea in which miles of motorway is freed up to use as a lorry park because of issues at the Port of Dover. Sadly in practice it is a rather stupid way of turning a motorway into a rather slow dual carriageway. I drove at a snail’s pace up the motorway whilst not a single lorry was using the miles of created lorry park.

 

As I drove I listened to the pundits on the radio talking about how my water bill is set to go up by nearly half over the next year. There was some expert being interviewed who made the valid point that since privatization the water companies have competed with the banks as a place in which people might like to invest money to make money. Consequently the water companies have been playing silly financial games and not concentrating on the business of providing water to the country. The observation was made that, if operated correctly, the infrastructure of the country doesn’t generate money but costs money.

It’s hardly rocket science, is it?

 

I got to Penshurst with half an hour to spare, and quickly zoomed round the nearby geocaching Adventure Lab series before heading back to the car. After a few minutes Gordon arrived with Norton, and Ralph was soon with us. We then walked round the recently published series of geocaches. Relatively easy finds all along well marked paths it was only a shame that we made such good time that we were home before the three pubs we passed opened.

I took a few photos as we walked today. Back in the day I used to go for a mid-week geo-walk quite often. What with all the excitement of the last few weeks it was rather good to get out with friends today.

 

Having taken me to Penshurst up the motorway, my sat nav brought me home cross country where it seemed I’d trailed dried mud all through the house before I’d left this morning. I ran round with the hoover, then fell asleep on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon.

 

“er indoors ^TM” is off out on a little mission. There’s talk of her coming home via the kebab shop…

10 July 2024 (Wedesday) - Woods, Puzzles...

Treacle did start smacking her chops last night, but not until nearly seven o’clock. And she soon stopped. I got up just before eight, let out those dogs that wanted to go out, and made toast. The Internet was rather dull this morning. No dubious supposedly women sending me friend requests, no quarrels about filling garden ponds with all sorts of chemicals but avoiding tap water like the plague.

I did see a friend had had a post removed by the Facebook feds though. Apparently she breached the Facebook community standards by telling her mates on which days dustbins would be collected. It turns out that pretty much anything related to Swale council is red flagged by Facebook’s automated bots at the moment.

 

I put a load of washing in to scrub then took the dogs up to Kings Wood. Now that Pogo is with us for a little while I was worrying about having four to look after, but Pogo amazed me. He stayed close, and I chuckled as watched him. He was keeping an eye on the other three; especially the puppies, and when he felt Morgan was getting too far ahead he would trot forward and there would clearly be some silent conversation going on after which Morgan would slow down.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but as we came to the end of the walk Pogo did seem to be struggling. He’ll get used to the walks; he’s done them in the past.

 

We came home. I hung out the washing, then chased Bailey off of a freshly laid dog turd that she had decided would make a good snack.

I made us both a cuppa, then cracked on solving geo-puzzles. A new series of geocaches had gone live at Lullingstone yesterday. It’s an area we’ve walked round a few times before; it is rather pretty and should make for a good walk at some point over the next few weeks.

Mind you when I say “solving geo-puzzles” there wasn’t much solving. Each of the ones I was looking at today were challenges. You need to have found a certain number of a certain sort of geocache to qualify. For example one was to have found a hundred and fifty with the “swimming” attribute. I’ve found thirty; there’s only about ten of these within fifty miles of home.

 

After having reviewed fifty I saw the weather had perked up a bit so I cracked on in the garden for a bit. I emptied the back garden green waste into the bin at the front, bionically burned the weeds in the front garden and sat by the pond pondering the extension to the bog filter that I put in a couple of months ago. It don’t look pretty, and the existing bog filter is very full. It all needs a re-think.

On the plus side the new lily pads had lasted a day, so that was something of a result.

 

“er indoors ^TM” went off out for some appointment or other (I don’t dare ask). I’d not been in the garden for long but I think I might have caught the sun. So I sat on the sofa, and as the dogs snored I carried on looking at that new series of geocaches at Lullingstone. Out of the eighty-one new caches I qualify to claim finds on about two thirds of them. I didn’t qualify for the rest and probably never will. Bearing in mind these have all been set for the upcoming mega-meet next month it’s a shame that these geocaches near Lullingstone couldn’t have been open to everyone and the silly challenges hadn’t been set in the arse end of nowhere.

I suspect I might be a little less scathing if I qualified for more of them.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a very good bit of dinner which we scoffed whist watching more “Race Across the World”. A rather good show, and for once the dogs didn’t spend the entire time demanding dog biscuits as they so often do.