As I scoffed toast I found myself thinking. Facebook told me that three years ago we were
in Bukhara having a feast with twenty-five other people on an expedition round
Uzbekistan. For two weeks we had the adventure of a lifetime and (I thought)
we all became firm friends. Since we came back we’ve heard from one of them.
One.
Facebook also told me that today was a Facebook friend
birthday. Someone from the Southampton
area we used to see very regularly through a mutual interest in kite flying.
Kite flying was a big part of my life for over ten years. We went to kite
festivals (involving weekend camping holidays) several times a year. We
went to all sorts of events and activities; even to France and Germany.
We’ve only seen two of our kite-flying friends in the
last ten years.
Back in the day we used to have twenty friends round
on Tuesday evenings to watch Star Trek episodes. We’re still in touch with some
of these people; we’ve seen half a dozen this year.
And then there was the people at the snake club, the
Lego club, scouting, six years of college, years of Open University, no end of
people with whom I worked (some for over twenty years)… It is *so*
easy to lose touch with people.
I Munzed, then started another Wordle streak (one
day so far) by getting from “feast” to “stoke” in four goes.
All these apps have streaks which you maintain by doing them daily. Munzee,
Wordle, Kindle, Meowdoku… why do I worry so much about maintaining these
streaks?
I got four (!) dogs onto their leads, and with
time pressing drove down to Orlestone. Bearing in mind the road works on the
old A2070 I went cross country, and again Church Lane was awash with litter. There
is a mile of that road which really does look as though people just empty bin
bags full of rubbish as they drive along. I’d organise a geocaching
litter-pick to sort it, but it would involve having people on the side of a
road, and cars fly down that lane.
We got to the woods and had a good walk. We saw some
woman and a Labrador, but nor before they’d seen us and gone the other way. And
about three quarters of the way round we met a “very nice man” mincing
through the woods with two bundles of fluff on leads. I loudly ordered “Straight
Past” and my lot just went straight past without bothering his dogs. “Straight
Past” is a new trick which we are working on. It has varying levels of
success, but over time the success rate is getting better. When it works (like
today) it does look impressive; especially to those who don’t dare let
their own dogs off of the lead.
We came home. I didn’t have a cuppa. When I have a
cuppa before work I then drive to work desperate for a tiddle. Instead I used
some of that amount of energy having Microsoft Copilot cooking up today’s
picture. And having Microsoft Copilot make it rather than me, someone else paid
for the electricity used. Result !!
And then I spent a few minutes checking my figures… yesterday
I said “the
whole process of creating an A.I. image … used less electricity than running an
electric kettle to make a cuppa”. It turns out that making an A.I.
caricature actually takes about one seventh of the leccie needed to boil a
kettle, and I can make over fifty such piccies for the energy needed to
tumble-dry my undercrackers. And you don’t see any tree-hugging hippies complaining
about my undercrackers, do you?
I set off to work. I stopped off at the Repton centre.
There's a new chap running the show and I've been getting loads of mixed
third-hand messages about just what the Repton people want from the Dog Club,
so I thought it best to talk to them directly. It turns out they are very happy
with the Dog Club, but there's some confusion about how they recognise payments
form us. People can pay their subs in three ways. They can pay directly by BACS
or they can put cash into the pot which I collect then send a payment by BACS.
BACS has a reference on it, and if people put "Dog Club" as
the reference then all is heigh ho, pip and dandy. However the Repton
people have set up a system by which you pay them by texting a certain number
on your mobile. The trouble with that is that when they get a payment by text
they have no idea who has sent it. Table tennis, Karate, Pilates... it could be
from anyone. I've suggested that they have a dedicated text number for Dog Club
payments. They are looking into it.
From there I went up the motorway to work listening to
more of my "Day of the Triffids" audiobook. It's streets
ahead of "All Quiet on the Western Front" as the bloke reading it is
putting effort and feeling into his narration and doesn't some over as being
utterly morose.
Work was work. I did my bit and came home listening to
more "Triffids". I got home to find the new Hoover has arrived
and is sucking like a thing possessed. Which is a result if you like that sort
of thing. Personally I'm not averse...
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