30 March 2025 (Sunday) - Early Shift

For years I've been struggling with a bedside clock with a very small LED display which I simply can't see from the bed without lifting my head and squinting my eyes. My new one arrived yesterday evening; good old Amazon. It took a bit of farting around to set up but I've now got a clock which projects the time onto the ceiling. I love it. It was reduced from over thirty quid to eight quid - it pays to look at the bargain pages on Amazon. Sadly it came with a USB connection rather than a plug, but such is life. I certainly slept a bit better being able to just look upwards whenever I wondered what the time was rather than having to lift my carcass up. 
It was a shame that “er indoors TM and her entourage had to be quite so noisy when they all went to the loo at three o'clock, and an even bigger shame that the stupidity that is daylight saving had to happen last night but there it is. With an alarm set I was wide awake at five o'clock (or four o'clock as it would have been yesterday). I got up, made toast and watched an episode of "Orange is the New Black" in which everyone kept their chests in check which was a novel break with tradition for that show.
 
I got dressed and set off for work. As I drove there was an interview on the radio with someone who was farming in the Scilly Isles. It sounded like a rather beautiful place to be, but programs about scenic places are best done on the telly; not the radio.
And there was talk about the UK government's response to President Trump's imposition of tariffs on the sale of British goods to America. I don't understand what President Trump is up to with these tariffs. I looked them up. From what I can work out, the American government is putting a tax onto various things that America is importing. This tax being paid to the American government by whoever it is that is doing the buying. In theory it makes the stuff more expensive for the Americans and encourages them to buy home-produced things. In practice shipping stuff half-way round the world ain't cheap and so if it was cheaper to buy home-produced things the Americans would already be doing so. 
And having had a tariff put on their product, the sellers generally say "get stuffed!" and sell their stuff elsewhere. Tariffs hurt the ones buying the products, not the ones selling them, but President Trump, like those who vote for him, doesn't really understand what tariffs are all about.
 
I got to work and did that which I couldn't avoid. I'm going off working at the weekends. Back in the day on weekend we were open only for emergency cases as there was only one person in, whereas during the week there's a full house. However over the years things have changed and the workload has increased massively. But the staffing level has remained constant.  It's much the same issue that GPs face. The government has blithely announced that GP surgeries will be open in the evenings and at weekends but not done much (anything at all) about providing more (any) staff.
 
Just as I was about to come home so my phone told me about a new geocache... one specifically thanking me for my contributions to the ancient and honourable art of hunting for plastic pots under rocks. The puzzle had what looked like an obvious theme.. I had the right idea, got the thumbs-up and I came home singing along to Ivor Biggun songs, taking a little diversion on the way. First one to find it... result.
 
I came home and was immediately in trouble. Littlun was holding court with the dogs in the hallway as I walked in. She screamed and ran, and I could hear her in the kitchen telling her grandmother (in a very indignant tone) that grandad had made her jump.
Littlun helped me feed the fish… I say helped. Like the dogs, she too scoffs the fish food.
And with the fish fed “er indoors TM took littlun home. I watched more “Orange is the New Black”, then had a little doze until “er indoors TM returned. She came back with a load of laundry from the most recent fruit of my loin. The first lot is already hanging up, and the undercracker load is going through right now. I’ll get the rest scrubbed and out on the line tomorrow.
 
Oh… today was Mother’s Day. It’s been four years since my mum went. Back in the day the tribes would gather for Mother’s Day. She used to love it. And today would have been her sixty-eighth wedding anniversary too.

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