18 April 2026 (Saturday) - Dog Club, Harry Potter

I slept better than I often do, but was still wide awake at five o’clock. Rather than laying in bed I got up and watched another episode of “The Man In The High Castle”. I realise that they were quite up on rocketry, but if the Axis powers really had won the second world war, would they have had Concord-style supersonic planes in the early 1960s?

I then had my usual peer into the Internet. It was still there. The usual drivel and squabbles abounded. I saw I’d been awarded a “Top Fan” badge for having clicked Facebook’s “like” button on a few photos on a dachshund page I follow. On a more serious note someone had posted the results of their blood test to one of the work-related Facebook groups I follow… This happens quite a bit. In some parts of the world it seems you can pay to get blood tests done and then go around asking what the results mean, and asking for quotes to sort out whatever the blood test had shown… I suppose that it isn’t entirely unlike what happened when Fudge was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure several years ago.

At first glance it seemed that today’s customer had both acute leukaemia and thalassaemia minor, but there were plenty of people queueing up to offer their sage advice and were suggesting everything from “piles” through to “died three weeks ago”.

Be very careful when asking for medical (or any) advice on-line. The less someone knows, the more confident and forceful they are with their opinion. Leaving aside the (rather major) point that a professional blood tester doesn’t offer diagnoses (that’s what doctors do), am I being hopelessly idealistic in preferring to have a “patient” rather than a “customer”? And am I being hopelessly idealistic in preferring that whoever used their professional judgement to ask for the blood test would deliver the bad news rather than having someone wonder if a blood test might tell them what was wrong with them (and then go onto Facebook to have random strangers explain the results to them)?

I Munzed. I Wordled from “drain” through “clade” to realise that “shady” was probably the only word which would fit… It wasn’t “shady”. I tried random gibberish until I got it right with “toady”. Is that even a word?

 

We got ourselves together. The plan was to go straight to today’s adventure from Dog Club, so there was quite a bit to get together. As I got bottles of cider in from the fridge in the shed I thought I could smell turds… suddenly gripped by panic I had a look down the drain. The water level was back where it should be… but there was quite a bit of “toilet things” floating there. It probably needs a few flushes.

As I fiddled about so Steve was doing the “Guess the Lyrics” competition on the radio. “I’m dancing on the white house lawn”?  I had no idea either. It was “Life is a Minestrone” by 10cc.

 

We drove round to Repton and Dog Club where we had a rather good session even if attendance was down somewhat. I blame the early drizzle.

 

From there we went out t Barham where we met Karl and Tracey. We went for a little geo-walk. Last year a series of puzzle geocaches went out all based on the “Harry Potter” books. The puzzles were fun, and the final geocache were all excellent; some involved well thought out field puzzles. In over sixteen thousand finds this series is probably the best series I’ve ever walked. The only criticism I could make would be that at nine miles it was a tad long; maybe two shorter loops might have been more manageable for an old git like me.

 

We walked nine miles over six hours, and with walk walked we retired to the Duke of Cumberland where we had a rather good bit of dinner washed down by a few pints of very good ale…

 

We came home to a minor disaster in the small fish pond. I shall deal with that in the morning.

In the meantime, here’s some photos of today.

17 April 2026 (Friday) - Early Shift, Drains

Well, last night was a case of the old, old story. With an alarm set I was wide awake from three o'clock which (in all honesty) wasn't bad for a night with an alarm set.

I got up, made toast and watched an episode of "The Man In The High Castle" which was rather good. I got ready for work and set off. I couldn't help but notice that the bins hadn't been strewn all over the pavements, the bin men weren't bellowing swear words up the street and the bin lorry had been parked in such a way that it wasn't deliberately blocking the road. Someone in authority must have had a word with them.

 

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

The Israeli and Lebanese governments are holding talks because (so it would seem) President Trump has ordered them to.

The British and French governments are organising an international armada to look after the strait of Hormuz; an international armada involving pretty much everyone except those currently at war over the place.

And the UK government is preparing for double figure inflation as the price of food looks set to go through the roof at the end of the year... or so it was claimed. The head of the Butcombe brewery was wheeled on who said that inflation of food prices might go through the roof; it is too early to tell.

It strikes me that whoever is wheeled on to the morning news is very firm about their opinions, and no two hold the same opinion.

 

Pausing only briefly to get a sandwich from Sainsburys I went in to the early shift. I spent much of the day whistling "Edelweiss" which is the theme tune to "The Man In The High Castle", and was a favourite song of my late grandmother. For some reason I have always been convinced that the song was also a firm favourite of Adolf Hitler's but it turned out the song was written fifteen years after he died.  One lives and learns.

 

And I got rather wound up as I chatted with the trainees. Being a professional blood-tester has always needed rather specialist post-graduate qualifications. Back in the day we would apply to be an apprentice blood tester. The ones who were successful (I got the thumbs-down on my first application) would spend four days a week in the workplace, and one day a week at a college. After four years of this we'd qualify with a degree, and those who wanted to go on to Masters level could do so over a further two years. 

A paid day off work each week to go to college, college fees paid, train fare to get there paid, the price of lunch and tea stumped up, and thirty quid to spend on text books… all the costs was part of our wages.  It might have taken longer to get a degree than the traditional full-time route would, but at the end of it all we had a qualification, professional registration and a job. And consequently it was attractive.  There was stiff competition to be an apprentice blood tester back then, and that's why I didn't get in on the first attempt.

Sadly about ten years after I started, someone in an office realised just how much it cost and decided that we would appoint staff at the point at which they qualified, and apprentice blood testers could pay for their own education... Some of the trainees now have over eighty thousand quid's worth of debt...

This is nothing new... but it came as something of a revelation to me...

 

As the day wore on so I had some messages from “er indoors ^TM”. The nice drains man had arrived. Regular readers of this drivel may recall our turd outlet hasn't been flowing as well as it might. The nice drain man opened the manhole cover over the communal sewer to find it was only a few inches from the top, and there wasn't just turds floating in it. It would seem the nice people a few doors up have been chucking "women's things" down their chodbin. I can't say that was the problem, but it certainly couldn't have helped. Still, I'm glad he found them. He can have that conversation with the neighbours. 

I got the message that he was sending some submarine camera down the drain, and then my shift was over. There's no denying that I drove down the motorway with something of a sense of trepidation.

 

I came home to find the nice man had gone. Apparently he’d seen nothing untoward with his sub-aqua camera so he just gave it all a particularly vigorous rodding and hoped for the best, and that cleared it. I saw that as a result. Seven years ago the nice people from the water company sent a camera-equipped submarine down there and told us that something had collapsed in the drain and there was a load of rats and shingle down there (in with the turds). Either today’s nice man’s camera had a turd on the lens or he wasn’t looking hard enough, or the last bloke was mistaken.

Here’s hoping the drain is good for another seven years…

 

I had intended to take the dogs to the woods this evening, but I’d had to park three streets away, and the current plan is that they should get a decent walk tomorrow. So we just did “FEED THE FISH” instead, and prepared my sat-nav “Hannah” for tomorrow.

We had fish and chips and watched “Race Across the World” in which the contestants were racing across Turkey. Some of the contestants went across the turtle rescue centre at Iztuzu beach where we visited when on holiday seven years ago.

I’d like to go back there at some point…

16 April 2026 (Thursday) - Still Tired

I slept well last night – that’s what night shifts do. But for some odd reason I was far warmer in bed last night than I had been on Tuesday afternoon or yesterday morning. How did that work?

 

I made toast and had my usual look at the Internet. Having finally sorted my antivirus yesterday my Facebook feed was full of adverts for antivirus products. The marketing algorithms haven’t quite got it right, have they? Now that I’ve bought something it is too late to get adverts for whatever it is. Last week I bought a year’s worth of razor blades and for two days job lots of razor blades was all I saw on social media.

 

I got the dogs onto their leads and we went to the woods. The upper car park has been heaving for the last two weeks, filled with people who very rarely go to the woods so today I tried the lower car park which was empty. No one knows it is there. We walked a different walk to usual, and every time we took a turn that isn’t on our usual walk so Morgan would give me a look as if to ask if I was sure.

The dogs waded in the pond that I told them not to wade in. They rolled in the muck I told them to leave alone… an average walk really.

 

We came home for a cuppa, and I farted around with the lap-top and my phone tweaking the McAfee antivirus that I’d got yesterday.

I really needed a new package – what I had was with AVG, The antivirus seemed to work, but although I thought I’d paid for the tuneup software, it kept telling me that I might like to buy it. The final straw was when they took money for it (again), but again told me the advantages of getting something that they’d sold me but hadn’t given me.

There was a minor hiccup when I thought I didn’t have an antivirus… The AVG antivirus that I’d got rid of was called “AVG antivirus” (so you knew what you were getting). McAfee don’t do antivirus. They do “livesafe” which is their antivirus package but with a frankly meaningless name. Eventually I figured this out.

You’d think it would have a sensible name, wouldn’t you? Their “McAfee PC Optimiser” tells you what you are getting, doesn’t it?

After quite a bit of farting about I was as confident that I could be that my lap-top was free of viruses and malware, and I had a protection score of six hundred and forty-nine out of a possible thousand which I was told was good. Was it? I have absolutely no idea.

 

I Munzed, and Wordled from “virus” (it seemed appropriate) through “fluid” and “untie” to “cubit” which was rather a stupid word, wasn’t it?

And then I pootled in the garden for a bit. Trimming and pruning and stuff. I sat by the pond with the dogs and read my Kindle for a bit…  and woke up an hour or so later. It was getting cold so I came in and watched a couple of episodes of “The Man In The High Castle”.

 

“er indoors ^TM” finished her day’s work and bearing in mind she’d destroyed the ironing board she went shopping for a new ironing board for me. I say “for me” … it really was for me. And whilst she was out she got a couple of acers too.

We’ve had acers in the past which have always died. Let’s see what I can do with these ones…

15 April 2026 (Wednesday) - After the Night Shift

The first night shift I worked was in August 1985. Things were different then - that shift was sixteen hours long and I was called in from home each time I was needed. Starting at five o’clock in the afternoon and working through till nine o’clock the next morning I did work on half a dozen patients, finished the last call at half past midnight and was in bed for most of the night.

These days we work an eleven-hour night shift for which we are up all night. I had work from over fifty different patients, did weekly maintenance on eight different analysers, and walked over five thousand steps between my watch re-setting at midnight and the early shift coming in at quarter to eight. Judging from the distances that I walk round the woods that’s about two and a quarter miles, or slightly less than the longer walk round Orlestone woods.

I shall spark up the “Map My Walk” app on my next night shift.

 

At four o’clock this morning my phone beeped. A couple of new geocaches had gone live withing a couple of miles of home. Maybe I could get a quick First to Find on my way home?

As I walked to my car I called up those caches on my phone to plan my route… both had been found for the first time by quarter past six… I took a deep breath and drove straight home where I went to bed for the morning.

 

Despite having been up all night I slept poorly. I got maybe a couple of hours sleep and got up (feeling like death warmed up) at midday. With still no news from the drain-rodding people I had a little look at the drains. The water lever had subsided a lot since yesterday. It was still higher than it should have been, but nowhere near as high as it had been yesterday. Realistically it could have been like that for weeks (and probably has been). I took a chance, put a load of washing in, made toast and had a little look at the Internet. It was much the same as ever.

 

With washing washed I thought I might iron the shirts whilst they were still damp. Shirts always iron better when damp…

I spent half an hour trying to repair the ironing board. Whilst I hadn’t been looking er indoors ^TM” had done some ironing and in the process had comprehensively destroyed the ironing board. I had a go with hammer, screwdriver and mole grips, and eventually got the thing useable with a length of string.

I did the ironing whilst watching a couple of episodes of “The Man In The High Castle” which were rather good. We did “FEED THE FISH”, then with the weather cheering up we went up to the woods.

 

We walked a rather shorter version of our standard walk. Bailey rolled in something disgusting and Treacle tried to eat a long-dead chaffinch. But “er indoors ^TM” got to see the bluebells so that was a result.

I must admit I expected that the woods would be heaving with the world and his wife going to see the bluebells, but the car park was quiet, and once we were away from the car park we didn’t see anyone at all.

 

We came home and had a rather good bit of dinner which we scoffed whilst watching the second “Stand Up To Cancer” episode of Bake Off which featured four so-called celebrities. I’d actually heard of one of them…

 

For a day which is post night shift I’ve walked nearly eighteen thousand steps…

14 April 2026 (Tuesday) - Before the Night Shift

I slept better than I have done recently, which was something of a result. I got up at half past seven, made toast and had a look at the Internet. There was quite a bit of controversy of Facebook as that idiot Donald Trump has published a picture of himself healing the sick; the implication being that he is Jesus. Personally I can’t see how or why someone who is demonstrably senile is still in office, but what do I know? The American masses seem to love him. But love him or loathe him, he’s a showman. He amuses the masses most of whom really don’t understand the first thing about what is going on in the world, and most of whom don’t care about what is going on in the world. He says what they want to hear. The masses don’t want to be governed, they want to be entertained. That is why Boris Johnson got to be in charge and this is why Nigel Farage will be the next Prime Minister.

Democracy, eh?

I Munzed, and with the dogs having had their brekkie I got ready for the off.

 

We drove up to the woods. As we drove the pundits on the radio were talking about next month’s local elections. Several politicians were wheeled on and it all became something of “children in the playground” calling each other names.

We got to the woods rather later than we did yesterday. There were quite a few cars in the car park. We walked a slightly different route to our usual one and had a good walk. Bailey found a bone, but it was already dead long before we arrived, it wasn't a whole animal and it was too big for her to eat in one go. She'd not rolled in anything foul, and no tourists had got the hump about it either. I saw that as a result.

As we walked we met some strange bloke with four spaniels. Three came to say hello; he grabbed the fourth one by the ear and dragged that dog’s head to the ground whilst saying that the dog could be funny. I’m not surprised.

As we walked we were constantly avoiding off-road bikes. The wood was full of cyclists today.

We got back to the car to find the car park was full. Not a space to be had.

 

We came home. I made us a cuppa, I Wordled, wrote up some CPD, then had a little pootle in the garden as it is National Gardening Day today. As I pootled I noticed that the water level in the drain seemed a little high. I lifted the cover – it was about two inches from overflowing. Woops. I phoned Kim at Southern Water who said she’d send someone with some rods.

Despite the blocked drain I had a quick shower as I’d worked up quite a sweat while we’d been up the wood, and leaving “er indoors ^TM” with instructions to deal with plumbers I went off to bed for the afternoon.

Morgan and Bailey came with me – they love being on the big bed.

 

I stayed in bed for three hours; maybe sleeping for one of them. If God was to re-design humanity (not that it designed it in the first place…) perhaps rather than getting into bed and laying wide awake might not be the way forward. It would be so much easier if we came with an “off” switch so that we could sleep at sleep time. That way we wouldn’t be wide awake when we are supposed to be asleep, and no nodding off when we are supposed to be doing stuff.

 

I got up and Treacle watched me like a hawk. She knew it was time to go down the garden to provide nourishment to the piscine denizens of the aquatic environment (as I have to call it when she is listening) but she waits until I announce that I’m going to “FEED THE FISH” before she charges down the garden.

We did “FEED THE FISH” and whilst I was outside I had a look at  the water in the drain. The level had gone down a few inches which was a result, but we’ve had no messages about anyone with rods coming just yet.

 

I’m now off to the night shift. I’ve not done one of those since 20 December 2024 what with having blood pressure. But now my blood pressure is back to what it should be, I’m on the nights again. Mind you I say it is back to what it should be; I’ve not actually checked it since January as the blood pressure machine’s batteries have gone flat. Maybe I should check…

13 April 2026 (Monday) - Bad Dog (!)

I suppose I slept better than I often do, but I still wasn’t on top form when I woke. A mild headache and general aching… pretty much like I feel all the time these days.

I got up, made toast and had a look at the Internet. It was much the same as it always is. But there was an interesting advert…

 

Being up early and with rain forecast for the morning I took the dogs out early. As we drove to the woods the pundits on the radio were interviewing someone or other from Reform UK who was spouting on about all the failures of the current political system. But when it was suggested that pretty much everything he was banging on about was the legacy of years and years of Conservative governments, and that the vast majority of Reform politicians are ex-Conservatives he had absolutely no answer whatsoever. Reform UK are riding high on the public’s discontent, the public’s general ignorance of the political progress, and the Prime Minister being one of the dullest we’ve ever had.

The country’s political system definitely needs to be reformed, but Reform UK is the same old piss in a different shaped bottle. Sadly what choices have we got?

A relatively new Labour government that the public regretted voting in the moment that it was voted in.

What’s left of the old Conservative government that got voted out.

The old Conservative government that got voted out now posturing under two new names.

Well meaning incompetence that had its chance and blew it sixteen years ago

And tree-huggers.

None of which seem to be particularly appealing.

 

We got to the woods and had a good walk… mostly. As we walked there was a minor episode when some German tourists started shouting “Bad Dog!!” at little Bailey. They were rather indignant as they told me that Bailey "is bad dog. She has eating the animal in her mouth”. I told them that it wasn't the first dead mouse she'd had, and I very much doubted if it would be the last. And better a dead mouse than a live squirrel or rabbit like we've had before.

It was as well that the nice German tourists didn't see what Bailey had been rolling in.

 

We walked our usual route. The ground had really dried up; we walked the same route as we usually walk and did it fifteen minutes quicker than what we took in January. The bluebells were in full bloom; they will be gone in a couple of weeks.

As we came back to the car we met another dog walker who we know by sight. We walked back to the car park together and shared a whinge about the people who only take their dogs for walks during holidays. The woods are full of them at the moment. They go mental when any other dog goes anywhere near them. Morgan sniffed another dog’s arse last week and was accused of attacking it.

 

Once home the girls got a wash. Morgan was clean(ish) but Treacle and Bailey had been rolling in muck. I made us both a cuppa, Munzed, and Wordled from “feral” (which was a surprisingly good start) through “lifes” to “elfin” (as it couldn’t be anything else that I could see) to get it on the third go.

 

With cuppa guzzled and the forecast rain not having appeared I went into the garden for a little pootle. I gathered up dog dung, then picked the larger sticks and twigs before going round with the garden vacuum. I weeded, gathered up more dog dung, then went at the patio and the gravelled areas with the bionic burner. I then strimmed the slabs that go up the lawn. I started going round the edges with garden scissors, but the strimmer did a much quicker job. I went round with the watering can, and then read my Kindle for a bit.

 

“Daddies’ Little Angel ^TM” needed a lift home, so I ran her to Folkestone. Whilst I was there I wasted twenty minutes in a bush. A new geocache had gone live in Cheriton yesterday with the hint “bushes”. I personally would have given more of a hint than that, but gave it a good effort before I walked away.

The thing has since been found by someone claiming it as their first find ever… I’m calling shenanigans on that.

I came home via Wickes. Screwfix Direct, Thanet Tool Hire and B&Q. None of which sold the fence repair gizmo I’ve been after. I shall try the garden centres before I give up and go to Amazon.

 

I came home, and spent an hour or so marking trainee’s work, then stood up and loudly announced that I was going to “FEED THE FISH”. Treacle leapt up and we went out to find that the drizzle that has started as I’d come home had been rather heavy. Maybe I hadn’t needed to water the plants at all?

And once we’d fed the fish so the rain returned… torrential, and then turned to hail.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up a rather good curry which we washed down with a bottle of the red stuff whilst watching the first episode of the new series of “Taskmaster” out of five contestants I’d heard of one.

And then we watched the SUTC Bake Off and cracked open the Disaronno… 

12 April 2026 (Sunday) - Opening the Container

I woke at seven o’clock to the sound of loud barking… only to find all dogs fast asleep. That was some really vivid dream. I went back to sleep for another couple of hours.

I put a load of washing in to scrub, told Treacle off for trying to bully Bailey off of her brekkie, made toast and had a little look at the Internet. It was still there, and much the same as ever. I scoffed toast whilst I watched another episode of “The Man In The High Castle” which has seriously got me thinking recently. Set in America some fifteen years after it (in another plane of reality) lost the second world war, so many of the protagonists are fiercely patriotic about their home country, be it America, Japan or Germany. We see this locally with flags being hung from lamp posts…

Am I wrong in not having this patriotic fervour at all?

 

With telly watched I hung out the washing and set the dishwasher going, then Munzed and Wordled. “Sound” gave me nothing so I started again with “heavy” from where I went through “matey” and “abbey” to “alley”.

We then took the dogs out. The weather forecast wasn’t great so we wanted a short walk. We parked up in Kennington and walked across the fields to where there was supposedly a geocache. We eventually found it… and I squealed it up for needing some maintenance. The given co-ordinates were quite a bit out, and the thing was a glass jar with a rusty lid. We then continued on a (sort-of) circular walk home.

It was a shame that Bailey had to be so wilful as we walked. She is fine when we go to Kings Wood or Longbeech or somewhere that we know, but she can be a nightmare in places that are new to her. She didn’t get *that* deep into the brambles, and there wasn’t really *that* much blood from my hand when I finally got her out.

 

We came home. I harvested an epic crop of dog dung from the garden, and looked at the bird feeder. Despite the Royal Society for the Prevention of Birds (!) saying we shouldn’t feed them, the sparrows do like a scoff. I topped it up…  We had a cuppa, I wrote up some CPD.

 

With the forecast rain having come to nothing I got the lawnmower out and trimmed the grass, watered the flowers, did “FEED THE FISH”, cleaned out the aerator head on the pond, and sat by the pond for a while until “er indoors ^TM” came out to upset the dogs. She said it was practice for her sponsored skipping thing, but the dogs (and Bailey in particular) *really* didn’t like her skipping with a rope.

 

It got cold so I came in. And we both spent over an hour on the next geo-project. Chris has got a 3-D printer and he’s printed us each a puzzle geocache. They are rather good; a smashing little pressie for which I for one am very grateful.

It’s a simple little idea. Open the blue cylinder and sign the piece of paper inside… Once you’ve figured out how to open the thing it is relatively straightforward, but it takes some figuring.

I’ll be honest – it is a really good present and I think it is too good to stuff under a rock as a geocache. But that is what Chris made it for. So if it is going to be a geocache I shall try to make something decent of it. In the first instance I will need a location which ideally has a seat so’s people can sit down with it, and is well away from where the normal people might come across it by chance. And while I’m trying to find a location I shall test the thing on a few people to see if anyone can open it quicker than I did (i.e. in less than an hour) so I can judge how to rate the thing’s difficulty.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up pork chops which we scoffed whilst watching an episode of “Taskmaster”. We’ve got the latest “Wallace and Gromit” film on now, but I might not stay the course… I’m not feeling on top form.

I wonder what that’s all about?

11 April 2026 (Saturday) - Games Night

It was after four o’clock when I woke this morning. But again once I was awake and that was it. I came down a little while later to find Morgan sitting by the back door…

Yesterday was another anniversary… a happier one than I ranted about yesterday. Yesterday marked four years since the puppies arrived in our house. Originally I only wanted Bailey. Morgan looked too much like my Fudge-dog and I felt it wouldn’t be fair on Morgan to take him on because I would always be comparing him to Fudge. As I typed the last paragraph I actually wrote… “to find Fudge sitting by the back door”.

But I took him on, even though I am continually calling Morgan by Fudge’s name which is really silly. The physical resemblance is superficial at best, and temperamentally they are poles apart. I miss Fudge, but I wouldn’t be without Morgan.

 

I made toast and watched another episode of “The Man In The High Castle”. I’m up to episode five and don’t really have much idea of what is going on.

I had a little look at the Internet. It was much the same as it ever was. This morning’s petty bickering on Facebook was on one of the geocaching pages I follow. Some “rather special” chap in America has formed his own breakaway Facebook group after taking offence that everyone else told him that “being special” was no excuse for being a twit. This morning one of his cronies had announced that he was going to make wheelchair-user-friendly geocaches and seemed to be amazed that this was already a thing and had been so for years.

There was also quite a lot of posting on Facebook about yesterday's elections in nearby Cliftonville. The incumbent Reform councillor had gone to jail, and yesterday the Greens had won the vote to replace him. I did chuckle when so many pro-Reform voters were talking about how a narrow a margin the Greens had won by. Nothing like as narrow a margin as the Brexit vote had been, but which the very same people still (ten years later) loudly claim as a resounding victory.

 

I Munzed, and got ready for work. I didn’t really want to work this morning but there it is. Over the last two years I’ve rather enjoyed being part time, but a month ago the boss asked if I could do four weeks of extra hours to help with the new computer system. I said I could… in retrospect I wish I hadn’t. The money is nice, and learning something new is good, but the trouble with work is you have to do work. I’d rather pootle and potter and if I want to sit by the pond and have a nap, then I’d rather sit by the pond and have a nap.

 

I made my way to my car. As I went I activated my Munzee map. As I'd Munzed earlier so a new temporary Munzee  had appeared just down the road. I thought I might get it as I walked to the car. In the time it had taken me to put on my shoes so “er indoors ^TM”  had woken up and Munzed it herself.

 

I drove off west-wards listening to the pundits on the radio. As I drove there was talk about the enquiry into the case of Valdo Calocane (who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia) who killed three people and seriously injured three other people in Nottingham city centre three years ago despite being well known to the local authorities. There was an interview with one of the families involved who said that one of the things that came out of the enquiry was how inexperienced some of the officials were, and generally how crap the system had been. 

Am I being cynical in thinking "been there, done that"?

And there was talk of the Artemis II which splashed down safely last night. As always as in the case with anything remotely scientific or not related to petty political squabbling, the matter was treated with mild condescension. It boils my piss that proper news is treated as a subject of disdain whilst that which will be forgotten by the end of the day and which will wrap tomorrow's chips is seen as being oh-so-important. 

 

On the stroke of eight o'clock I turned over to Radio Ashford to listen to Steve on the radio. He'd mentioned that there was a new DAB channel for radio Ashford. There was, but sadly (like the FM signal) it only reached as far as the hill at Goudhurst where I lost him.

I went in to work where I did my bit. As I worked I used the works Internet to tune back in to Steve on the radio. I got the mystery year pretty much right away - when did Rumbelows close down? I knew that - I bought my first home PC from them (for a small fortune) just before they went belly-up in 1995.

 

At tea break I had a Belgian bun. As I'd driven through Goudhurst I saw the little bakery there was open. I went in and joined the queue. There weren't many people waiting, but the staff were rather hopeless. It really doesn't take ten minutes to sell a couple of cakes, does it?  And sadly the bun wasn't worth the ten minutes that I spent queueing for it. It would be unfair to say that the thing was rock hard as it was certainly softer than a rock... well, most rocks.

But there's no denying that I won't be hurrying back to that little bakery. There's no convenient car parking spot in Goudhurst, and do I really want to give them another chance? I really don't want to have to go out of my way only to face another bun like todays. It was supposed to have been a little treat(!) I can get a bun which is better and cheaper (and with a far higher chance of being half-way decent) by going to Tesco or Sainsburys; I certainly will next time. And this is *exactly* the problem that so many little businesses face, isn't it? 

I had a little look on Google and saw that I called into the place four years ago and had a stale Belgian bun that time too...

 

I came home. “er indoors ^TM” went shopping, and I settled in front of the telly under a pile of dogs and watched another episode of “The Man In The High Castle” whilst Treacle alternately snored and farted. I don’t know what she’s eaten recently but I do know she’s not going to eat it again. Oh, her arse was rank.

I cleaned out the fish tank’s filter and “er indoors ^TM” returned with Whitby buns. Very nice.

 

Chris, Steve and Sarah came round and we had a rather good games night. I won Game of Life, came second in Sorry and second in Ticket to Ride. But (to be honest) I could have come last in everything and still have had a very good evening with friends.

I do like our game nights…

10 April 2026 (Friday) - More Dull

Yesterday I woke at quarter past two… it was something of a relief when I woke and saw the clock this morning - ten to four. Still far too early, but a minor result. I lay awake for an hour before giving up and getting up.

I made toast and watched another episode of “The Man In The High Castle”, then had my usual rummage round the Internet. This morning it was on the dull side. I sent out one birthday wish, Munzed, and got ready for work.

 

I made my way to my car, picking my way through the bins that the bin men had strewn across the pavement. They've stopped hollering swear words up the streets at half past six on a Friday morning, but they still won't put the bins back where they find them.

As I drove off so Kyle's mum was walking the streets again.  Kyle was one of the stranger of my cub scouts many years ago (and that was up against some pretty stiff competition). He could speak, but for the most part chose not to. He used to communicate by pulling strange grimaces and he seriously expected everyone would know what he wanted and what he meant from the faces he pulled. After a few weeks of his nonsense I used to deal with him by replying to his strange gurning by pulling faces back at him. If what he wanted was important he would eventually communicate with words, and if he didn't speak I would assume that what he wanted was trivial and could be ignored. 

Was that harsh of me?

I often see his mother when I'm out and about. She lives just down the road, and for years has spent pretty much all of her life walking round Ashford. I've seen her in all parts of the town and at all times of day. This morning she was going past Pets at Home at half past six. Does she just like walking? Is she claustrophobic? Or is there maybe an issue at home and should I be saying something to someone in authority? If I had any confidence at all in social services I might just do so. But I haven't. And so I won't. 

 

I went round to the petrol station to fill up. Petrol ain't cheap these days. I also got a sandwich for lunch. Again being there before the morning's shelf-filling I had to choose from yesterday's leftovers, and again there was precious little that didn't have bacon in them.

I then headed west-wards through the -hursts and the -dens.  It can be a rather pretty drive when I'm not having to worry about idiots tail-ending me. There were none today. I stopped off in Goudhurst on my way. I've got a geocache there which went missing and which I replaced a couple of months ago. It had gone missing again. I've put out another, but if this one goes I shall archive it.

I then spent a few minutes admiring the view. For all that I love my walks round the woods there's no panoramic views to be had there so I made the most of the opportunity this morning. Several people in cars slowed down to see what I was doing. 

And then it was on to work.

 

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about bird feeders. I always thought that we were doing a good thing by topping up the bird feeder, but apparently this contributes to the spread of trichomonosis.

Maybe cleaning out the bird feeder might help? Or giving them a bowl of seed rather than a feeder which harbours germs and scatters the food all over the place?

And there was more talk about the current war in the Middle East. Mind you when I say "current war" I really mean "ongoing and perpetual war". This morning there was discussion on the radio about Lebanon's involvement in the war.  Some Lebanese government official was being interviewed who pretty much admitted that the Lebanese government have no control over what the Hezbollah rebels are doing (at the moment they would seem to be the biggest problem in that part of the world). And then the chap went on to show why there will never be peace in the Middle East. He started banging on about some grievances concerning some incident that happened in 1949, and then moved on to another incident from the early seventies...  It was quite clear that griping about historical episodes was far more important to him than dealing with tangible current issues.

 

I got to Pembury where I should have filled up with petrol. Normally eight pence per litre more expensive, this morning the petrol in Pembury was seven pence per litre cheaper than what I'd paid in Ashford. If I'd topped up there I'd have saved nearly three quid, and when you are as mean as me, that's not to be sniffed at. It's the price of a bottle of decent beer from the corner shop.

 

Work was work. I came home and we had a rather good dinner of scampi and chips which we scoffed whilst watching the first two episodes of “Race Across The World” which was streets ahead of “The Hunt” that we watched recently for the simple reason that I didn’t actively despise all of the contestants.

 

I’ve got another early start tomorrow – I wonder just how early…

 

And it’s a year since I’ve seen my granddaughter. It’s her fourth birthday today. If I’m lucky I might see her again in fourteen years.

The country’s judicial system leaves a lot to be desired…

 

9 April 2026 (Thursday) - Dull

I woke feeling full of energy and raring to go… at quarter past two. As I so often do when I’ve got an alarm set. I gave up trying to sleep at five o’clock, got up and watched an episode of “The Man in the High Castle” then had my usual look at the Internet as I do every morning. There was an interesting post from a friend from long ago. The chap is a lawyer specialising in intellectual property, and he’s started his own firm. Billed as a UK and European patent attorney he’s operating out of Sydney Australia. I must admit that the words mean pretty much nothing at all to me, but I wish him well. You never know – one day I might go out and visit him.

I sent out birthday wishes to the three friends having birthdays today.  I Munzed, and got ready for work.

 

I walked up the road for some more Munzing before I drove off. There was a Celtic salmon and a Celtic cat in Christchurch Road. You'd never know, would you?  As I went back to my car I noticed that it was just before seven o'clock and there were a couple of pensioners standing by the corner shop waiting for it to open. There's o #ne of the local pensioners who is often litter-picking along the road at six o'clock. You'd think they'd not be up quite so early, wouldn't you? Perhaps it's not just me who can't sleep?

 

I headed west-wards along roads which were quieter than usual, but I'd still rather go up the motorway. If the idiot in the car behind me thinks I'm not going fast enough up the motorway there is plenty of space for them to overtake. As you drive up the A-roads there's little opportunity for overtaking and so the idiot drivers just get closer and closer up my rear end. I'm not going to go at the breakneck speeds at which they want to drive, which sadly clearly winds them up. I let them pass where I can, and then send snarky emails to their bosses and write about them on rate-driver dot internet when I can (which is most of the time). As I have said before, driving like an idiot is best done in a car that doesn't have your company's logo emblazoned all over it.

 

As I drove I listened to the pundits on the radio who were talking about the increased sales of electric cars. Apparently those in the motor industry are surprised at just how well Chinese cars are selling in the UK. The implication was made that buying Chinese was somehow unpatriotic whereas buying from a European or Japanese company isn't... There's not many car manufacturing companies which are UK-owned, are there? 

And it would seem that the Middle East cease-fire that came into effect yesterday is already looking iffy as yet again the Israelis are going out of their way to alienate themselves.

 

I went in to Tesco to get a sandwich, and then went on to work where I did my bit. And with my bit done I came home again to find that not only had the delivery of fish food arrived, but “er indoors ^TM” had rescued the screwdriver I dropped in the pond a week or so ago.

We had pie and chips and watched the last episodes of “The Other Bennet Sister” which were rather good.

I’ve got another early start tomorrow and so I doubt I’ll be asleep much after two o’clock tomorrow morning. An early start might be a plan.

 

Days like today when I’m at work are often the dull ones.

8 April 2026 (Wednesday) - Rostered Day Off

I slept well, but woke aching at seven o’clock. I got up, made toast and saw the world was still there. There had been some uncertainty overnight as President Trump had been threatening to unleash hell on Iran.

He didn’t.

As I scoffed my toast I saw that the current Middle East war is having a cease fire and the Strait of Hormuz has opened. Well, a cease-fire and open strait for the next two weeks or until it all kicks off again. At the risk of appearing cynical it won’t be long.

And there was a lot of talk about yesterday evening’s fire. As I’d driven home last night there was a load of smoke coming from a recycling plant on the other side of town. Fire engines came from miles around to sort it.

I Munzed, and went to wake the dogs. They sleep so lightly during the day, and so deeply at night.

 

I put a load of washing in to scrub and took the dogs out. As we drove up Brookfield Road it was clear that the petrol station up there hadn’t heard the morning news; their petrol had gone up in price by two pence per litre overnight. And as I drove up Chart Road there was a definite haze in the air. From yesterday’s fire?

 

The roads up to the woods were a lot quieter than usual; the woods a lot busier. The car park was heaving, but as is always the way, once you get half a mile from the car park you get the woods to yourself. Mostly. We did have a minor issue with some idiot woman and her dog. We changed direction several times to avoid her, and in the end I just gave up. If her dog and mine had a set-to it wasn’t from my trying to keep away from her. Fortunately for us she took one of the paths that leads north out of the woods through a field with horses in it. And about twenty seconds after we lost sight of her we could hear a frantic neighing, a frantic barking, and lots of shouting. My three dogs looked at me as if to say “F.F.S.”, and ignored the commotion. I couldn’t have done anything to help without involving my three in whatever was going on so I thought I could best help by staying away. Not my circus, not my monkeys.

As we walked we saw the bluebells which are coming into full bloom, and my birdsong app detected sixteen different bird species.

We took a slightly different route to our usual one. Over the weekend we’d had reports that four of my geocaches in the woods were missing so I called in to each location and in a novel break with tradition all really were missing. I replaced them all, but did wonder where they’d gone. Had people done a litter-pick and tidied them up? Had people taken them home to show their mums? (that really does happen!)

 

After five miles we were back at the car. We came home where the washing machine had finished. I hung the wet stuff on the line (for the first time this year), and harvested a massive crop of dog turds. I’ve mentioned before that I can’t believe that three small dogs can generate so much dung.

I got all the rubbish that we’d been hoarding out the shed and loaded it into my car. Back in the day I could then have taken it straight to the tip, but these days you have to book a time, and there was an hour and a half to go until it was my turn.

 

I used the time to record the geo-maintenance that I’d done earlier, and I archived two geocaches I hid at Singleton lake a couple of years ago. Both were clearly missing and I’d been meaning to replace them for months and had never got round to it. Best to get shot of them before I get the geo-feds on my case.

I did a You-Gov survey, Wordled from “miles” through “illier” to “inlet”, wrote up some CPD, then went round to the tip.

It was rather busy.

 

I came home. No day not at work is complete without ironing. As I ironed I watched a film on the Disney Channel. “Starship Troopers” is an old favourite of mine, but more and more these days I’m finding I don’t have the attention span for films.

We did “FEED THE FISH”, I watered the plants. And had a little look in the small pond. At the weekend we got some goldfish for that pond. Either they are hiding or the seagulls have had them.

And I got the shears out and gave myself a quick haircut. That saved over a tenner.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up pizza and went out for the evening. I settled in front of the telly and sparked up Netflix. I’ve been meaning to watch “The Man In The High Castle” for over ten years, and finally made a start this evening. Set in an alternate version of America some fifteen years after the Allies were defeated in the Second World War, so far the program shows promise…

 

Today was a rostered day off. I’m going in to work for a rest tomorrow…

7 April 2026 (Tuesday) - More I.T.

For once I had a bit of an early night last night and managed seven hours asleep. I was still up before six o’clock though. I made toast and watched an episode of “Derek” then had my usual look at the Internet. It was rather dull this morning; nothing but adverts for stuff in which I had absolutely no interest.

I had a load of emails – people had been round Kings Wood hunting for the geocaches I’d hidden there. Several people couldn’t find certain ones; that’s tomorrow’s dog walk planned for me.

I had a quick Munz, then got ready for work.

 

What with it effectively still being the Easter holidays the roads were rather quiet as I drove up the "Operation Brock" nonsense. I *really* can't see the point of it; there's the same amount of traffic there always is, just going twenty miles per hour slower. Perhaps that's the point? I did see four cars and a van going along the bit that cars and vans shouldn't be in; there's often cars and vans in that bit.

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about Kanye West. Apparently he's some big music star who's seriously upset the Jewish community. At the risk of stirring up a hornet’s nest, it strikes me that the entire "Jewish community" is a subject no one dares to mention. It strikes me that cries of antisemitism are thrown up at the slightest provocation, and the world and his wife live in terror of such accusations. Meanwhile Israel demands that America join it in (from what I can see) an unprovoked war and no one says a word. I'd love to know just what I'm missing here.

And the astronauts are on their way back from the Moon. Not that they actually went to the Moon; just round it. For all that I'm a great fan of the space program, it does strike me that they went a long way to do not very much. Maybe going into a lunar orbit and then leaving it after a few orbits might have been something? Mind you their previously poggered toilet has now been fixed... you know you've got troubles when you are a week away from the nearest functional chodbin (or even tree to tiddle up).

 

I popped in to Sainsburys to get a sandwich as I do. They had quite a few plants; I thought about getting some, but I've done that in the past. They don't survive a day in the car.

And I went on to work. Originally I wasn't scheduled to be at work today, but I'd been asked if I might help with doing more testing on the new IT system.  I had a go... there's no denying I had quite a bit of "Operator Error". The thing would have worked far better had it done what I wanted it to do rather that what I'd been telling it to do but that's what completer systems are all about, isn't it? No? - well, that's the line I'm taking. 

I spent much of the day telling management that if I stuff it up in the testing scenarios then we can see how to avoid subsequent stuff-ups in the future. I'm not convinced that management subscribe to this school of thought, but management rarely does. I never used to when I was a manager.

 

As I drove home down the motorway so I saw a horse bolting across one of the bridges that crosses the M20…

 

We cracked open a bottle of plonk and then finished off the amaretto whilst watching the last episode of “The Hunt: Prey vs Predator”. It was a good show, but would have been better had any of the contestants been likeable.  We followed this with a couple of episodes of “The Other Bennett Sister” in which Mr Ryder turned out to be quite the beast. Men often are…

6 April 2026 (Easter Monday) - Working, Rolvenden

I felt rather rough when I woke this morning, but what could I do? Sulk or get on with it. I got on with it. “It” being laying wide awake far too early hoping and failing to get back to sleep.

I gave up, got up, put a load of washing in to scrub, made toast and watched an episode of “Derek” which was entertaining. I then had my usual peer into the Internet.

 

Our local MP had posted to his Facebook page (or a member of his staff had). Our local MP’s Facebook page has two sorts of posts. Either he’s trying to share in the limelight of that which someone local has achieved, or he’s making personal attacks on the opposition. Having spent years hoping for a Labour MP, this chap has turned out to be something of a disappointment. 

Other than that, hardly anything that wasn’t an advert was in my Facebook feed this morning. And of the adverts, pretty much none of them were of any interest to me.

I Munzed, and Wordled from “rough” to “story” and “score” to “sworn”.

 

With the washing hung out I set off up the motorway where the "Operation Brock" stupidity was still in place. But what with it being a rather quiet Bank Holiday morning I just set the cruise control and keep going. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the ongoing war in the Middle East. On the one hand is the American President who is ranting and raving, and on the other hand is the Iranian bunch who (from what I can see) haven't actually done much to warrant being attacked in the first place.

Trump is threatening dire retribution if the Strait of Hormuz isn't opened to shipping. However everyone knows T.A.C.O.  and consequently those he threatens are taking no notice. Meanwhile the rest of the world have realized that they can get oil out if they pay the Iranians not to shoot at them and so have started paying.  I suspect that when this all blows over (this time) the Iranians will carry on charging people not to shoot at their oil tankers and will have found themselves a nice little earner. Maybe the Prime Minister might learn from this and start threatening to take pot-shots at anything going through the strait of Dover unless they give the UK a bung.

 

I got to work. I popped into the canteen in the hope that they might have a hot cross bun. They did, and so I had one with a cuppa before I started. I'd rather not have been working today, but it was only for the morning, and unlike how it used to be when I worked elsewhere, I did what I did secure and content in the knowledge that every single thing I did today wouldn't be revisited and inspected tomorrow by a bullying manager determined to find fault everywhere he possibly could.  

And with my bit done I came home.

 

Having spent the entire Bank Holiday weekend so far maintaining geocaches we continued the theme. We drove out to Rolvenden where people who’ve found hundreds of other people’s geocaches but couldn’t be bothered to put out any of their own were finding fault with that which “er indoors ^TM” had done. As with pretty much everything in life it is not what is said but how it is said. “I’m sorry but the thing is rather damp” doesn’t give the offence that “yet another in desperate need of attention” does.

But we had a good walk. It was a shame that the dogs had to be on the leads for much of the way, but there were pheasants shouting seemingly constantly and the dogs seriously had the red mist.

I took a few photos as we went.

With walk walked we popped into the pub at the end of the route. I’ve not been in there for some time… eleven years.to be precise. We had a rather good (and well-deserved) pint, but… a pint of Harveys, half a cider shandy, two bags of crisps… nearly twelve quid. I know I’m getting mean in my old age but that’s about double what I’d pay in the shop over the road, and drinking it in my back garden means I wouldn’t have to put up with all the normal people shouting profanities at each other. Like they do.  

 

Seeing how it was the last day of the Easter holiday today “er indoors ^TM” sorted KFC which we scoffed whilst watching two more episodes of “The Hunt: Prey vs Predator”. Mind you when I say “watching”, I slept through much of the second one. I wonder if I missed much?

5 April 2026 (Sunday) - A Walk, Gardening...

Morgan had got off the bed in the night. When I came back from the loo at five o’clock he was looking hopeful so I lifted him up past Treacle’s glare.

Back in the day I would have got up at five o’clock on Easter Sunday. I would have gone to our local church (just down the road) and set up all the tables and chairs. Friends of the time would then have got the kitchen orgnised and I and others would walk up to North’s Seat; the highest point for miles around. We Methodists used to organise a “Son-Rise” outdoor church service where we would sing and pray. We’d be joined by the local C of E congregation, the local Catholics and the Baptists. The Jehovah’s Witnesses would always be invited to join with us. Every year they sent a little delegation who never joined in, but stood and watched from fifty yards away.

And once the sun had risen we’d take everyone back to our Methodist church where we’d give everyone brekkie. Everyone except the Jehovah’s Witnesses who flatly refused to have anything to do with us.

I wonder if that still goes on in Hastings.

 

But I didn’t get up at five o’clock today. I went back to bed and stayed there until half past seven. I got up, made toast and had a look at the Internet. It was much the same as ever… but I chuckled at the adverts in my feed. Yesterday I mentioned the iffy fence panels and that we’d bought some bedding plants. This morning I was inundated with adverts for fence repair kits and plant seeds.

 

 #There wasn’t much we could really do today. Pretty much everything closes for Easter Sunday. Supposedly it is so the staff can have a rest. What a load of tosh. Let’s see how the public react when they turn up at the hospital and get told to shove off because the place is closed so that the staff can have a rest. Why don’t shops and supermarkets and the like open from six in the morning until midnight (or even operate continuously). They could do this by actively looking for people who want to start work very early in the morning, or want to work late into the evening. Or want to do night work. Rather than having the existing staff working more hours, just take on more staff. After all what’s the point of a shop being open when all its potential customers are at work themselves? 

 

I Wordled, and Munzed from “night” to “knave” and got it with “envoy” on the third attempt. I rather impressed myself with that.

I went into the garden for a bit. I cleared yet more dog turds, laid one of the stepping stones that the first fruit of my loin gave me yesterday, cleaned out the filter of the small pond, and gave up on the pansies I planted a few weeks ago. They’ve come to nothing so I dinged their compost into one of the planters, and by then “er indoors ^TM” was ready. Some of her geocaches along the Greensand Way needed attention. We’d sorted some on Friday; we sorted more today. And with caches sorted we had something of a failed experiment. The series of geocaches runs in a straight line. We thought we might add a return loop to make a circular walk… There is a footpath which goes parallel to the geo-series which would be an ideal route in theory…

In practice it was a disaster. The path had half a dozen stiles which were poggered and all but impassable. We got over them but it took some doing. I shall contact the rights of way people… it would be a good walk if you could actually get along it. A mile and a quarter took us over an hour.

 

We came home for a cuppa and the last of the lemon cake, and I went back into the garden. I planted out those bedding plants we got yesterday. I discovered that I’d got a dozen snapdragons rather than six – that was a result. I tested all the water features – the big one isn’t quite flowing like it might. I expect I’ll sort it eventually. Or I won’t. We got a load of rubbish ready for a tip run. And when I finished pootling I took a few photos of the garden.  

We had a cuppa by the pond. Now it’s getting warmer we can sit by the pond. But when I say “pond” I can’t help but feel I mean “big dog water bowl”; Treacle does love guzzling out of it.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up chicken and chips. Once that was scoffed we played the Infinity Table over the Internet against Chris. That thing’s internet connection is odd. “Game of Life”, “Sorry” and “Trouble” all work fine, but “Ticket to Ride” simply won’t play remotely.

 

I’ve got to go to work in the morning…