7 April 2025 (Monday) - Painting More Gnomes

Another restless night; is a night asleep so much to ask? Littlun whimpered in her sleep at about half past six and all the dogs ran upstairs with “er indoors ^TM” to check on her. I got up and made toast.

The Internet was much the same as ever. There’s an American author I follow on Facebook who was banning people from her Facebook page if they so much as hinted that there won’t be any more presidential elections in America. Another author I follow once said in an interview that social media can be tricky for authors as you can lose a lot of your audience every time you express an opinion, and this particular woman I follow isn’t at all slow to express an opinion.

Another friend was posting twee motivational memes on her twee motivational Facebook page. Have you ever noticed that those advocating that when life give you lemons you should make lemonade are those who have rarely (if ever) neem given a lemon by life. Not that I’m bitter…

 

I munzed and captured a pouch creature; earning myself five zeds, then had a look at Wordle. I started with “spice” which only gave me one letter, and that was in the wrong place. “Treat” gave me two letters; both in the wrong place. “Fable” brought me a tad closer, and “navel” closer still. I eventually got there with “hazel”.

 

I drove round to the tip. As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the increasingly dire global financial situation. It is quite clear that President Trump really has no conception of the damage his half-baked ideas have done. I’ve tried to give the chap the benefit of the doubt, but it has to be asked how someone who demonstrably can’t string words into a coherent sentence has been allowed to do quite so much damage. Friends of mine who live in various parts of America tell me there’s widespread demonstrations against him, but the news agencies are too scared to give them any air-time.

 

I got to the tip and joined the queue. I’ve never seen it so busy; presumably people load their cars with rubbish over the weekend and drop it off on their way to work?

Having said that, the roads were incredibly quiet at eight o’clock.

 

With rubbish unloaded I came home and collected the dogs. Pogo had his breakfast with the rest of the dogs, but as I took three of them out, Pogey preferred to go back to bed to watch over “Darcie WaaWaa ^TM”.

I took my three to Kings Wood. We made rather good time getting there; where we’d normally be stuck in traffic at half past eight we just drove straight through the town. We got to the woods and walked one of our longer walks. Once away from the car park we didn’t see anyone else, but we heard a particularly noisy pair bellowing their conversation at each other from about four hundred yards away.

 

We came home, and after a cuppa and a tad more laundry I had a stroke of genius. Having forgotten to take the old knackered gnomes to the tip earlier I thought I might see if I could perk them up with a lick of paint.

Four hours later I’d given myself yet another backache, but the gnomes were good for another year. I quite like painting the gnomes, but the garden was odd today. When I could sit in the sunshine it was very warm. Out of the sunshine was freezing.

I sat in the sunshine by the pond… and fell asleep. I woke an hour later with Bailey snuggled up to me. As I’d slept I’d caught the sun. From years of sitting by water when fishing I know that sitting by water gives you a double dose of sunshine. Sunshine itself and the reflection. My face was glowing when I woke, and my back was incredibly achy.

 

I came in and wrote up a little CPD as littlun watched Oko-Lele.

I’ve not done *that* much today – a few bits to the tip, once round the woods, and painted some gnomes. And my back has had it. I’m getting fed up with my back…

6 April 2025 (Sunday) - Tidying The Shed

I had another restless night. I blame the KFC we had last night – I’m always incredibly thirsty for a day or so after having any of that stuff. I gave up trying to sleep and got up. Bailey soon followed me and wanted to go out. She went and started eating grass, then as I scoffed toast she sat on the sofa farting and periodically whimpering. She’s only herself to blame; she will eat crap (figuratively and literally) but you can’t explain that to a small dog.

I put a load of washing in to scrub, and as I scoffed toast I saw some Facebook friends had birthdays today. A distant relative in Canada, a fellow hunter of Tupperware, and two colleagues. One of those colleagues was doing a sponsored run today to raise money for stroke charities; another colleague had a massive stroke a few months ago. Only thirty years old and in good health, one day this lady didn’t show up for work and wasn’t answering her phone. Colleagues popped round to her house and found her in bed unable to move. Strokes can happen to anyone; not just the old and infirm.

 

I saw there was a new geocache about twenty minutes’ drive away. A follow hunter of Tupperware had already found it. From what I could see on-line he’d had the same notification that I’d had, run out of the door and driven like a thing possessed, managed to park and find the thing all in less than half an hour.

I munzed and started off on Wordle with “spicy” to find that only the middle letter was correct, but that was in the wrong place. “Field” gave me two correct letters, and both in the right place. And then I was stuck.

Eventually I hit on “villa” - go me.

 

I went into the garden and got busy. I hung the washing out, then painted up the cover I’d built for the little pond. Then emptied out the garden lock-up, and re-packed it. I painted the stand from which the bird feeder hangs. I emptied the shed and tidied up, I had this idea to make some order out of the place. I found so many identical drill bits. Having used one I’d put it in some random place in the shed, lost it and then bought another. I found about a dozen new and unused paint brushes. And jubilee clips – I found half a dozen packets of the things.

I loaded a bootful of rubbish into the  back of the car, and booked a tip slot for the morning,

 

We then took littlun to the park. Whilst her and her mother made new friends at the play park, “er indoors ^TM” and I sparked up our Munzee apps and went on a virtual shooting star hunt.

We came home for a cuppa, and I saw something sad on Facebook. A chap I’ve known for ten years has quite serious cancer. He’d like to go panning for gold to get enough to make wedding rings for his daughters before he dies… there’s a fundraiser to try to help him do this. You can donate by clicking here.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled us up some pork chops with all the rest of a roast dinner. Littlun ate most of hers apart from that which she declared was “gross”.

My face is glowing; I caught the sun today. And I’ve got backache. Again.

5 April 2025 (Saturday) - In The Garden

I had a much better night’s sleep last night. It was a shame that “er indoors ^TM” had to have a fight with Treacle at three o’clock, but there it is.

 

I made toast and peered into the Internet. It was still there. Again people were ranting about President Trump. His imposition of tariffs across the world seems to have poggered international trade, but no one appears to be in a position to stop him. When Liz Truss did for the British economy a couple of years ago she was soon out on her arse, but no one in America seems to be doing likewise. Is there no provision to oust an incompetent president in the American constitution, or is everyone scared of him? People were talking about four more years of this… people are assuming he’s going to allow elections when the time comes. No one has stood up to him so far; what’s to stop him staying in office for life? Absolutely nothing that I can see.

I Munzed, and after yesterday’s debacle when I completely failed at Wordle I started off with “price” and found I didn’t have a single letter at all. “Found” then gave me the first two letters. “Folly” then gave me the last letter, and I was then rather stumped until in desperation I tried “foamy”. What a stupid word, but it worked.

 

With the girls wanting a lazy morning Pogo came down and we took him to Dog Club. With about twenty dogs along we had a rather good session. Pogo did his usual trick. Being new to Dog Club he was rather defending what he saw as “his pack” until he eventually realized that his pack didn’t need defending. He stopped defending and then behaved in a rather unmoral way with Smudge and Kai, neither of whom were ever confused.

As we came home so Steve was doing the mystery year competition on the radio. When did the UK government agree with the French to dig the channel tunnel? Unusually I was quite a long way out for once. I thought it was some time in the early eighties – 1981? It was 1987.

We got home where Alexa was finally able to stream Radio Ashford; the streaming wotsit at the radio station had been poggered earlier. And after a dose of Junior Choice – “My Brother” and “I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat” I had a little tidy-up in the garden in readiness for the afternoon.

 

It wasn’t long before Steve and Sarah joined us, and Chris was hot on their heels. Despite the sunshine it wasn’t the warmest of afternoons, but we had a rather good little session in the afternoon. It was rather good to catch up.

 

And as the evening wore on, “er indoors ^TM” went up to the KFC for a bit of dinner. The dogs are worn out, “Daddies’ Little Angel ^TM” and “Darcie WaaWaa ^TM” are all in.

The washing machine is having a go at my undercrackers, and we’re doing something we rarely, if ever, do. We are currently watching “Britain’s Got Talent”. Britain might have, but this bunch haven’t.

4 April 2025 (Friday) - Two Hundred Calories

I had another of those nights where I woke feeling full of energy and raring to go only to find it wasn’t even one o’clock. I then dozed on and off until finally giving up and getting up at five o’clock.

I made toast and watched an episode of “Orange is the New Black” then had my usual peer in to the Internet. It was relatively dull today, but a few people were talking about the start of the holiday. It took me a little while to realise that they meant Easter. Quite a few people are now on a two-week holiday. I can’t complain – these days my life is much more holiday than it ever used to be.

 

I went round to the co-op to get dinner which was easier said than done. The self-service machines were both poggered and the woman in front of me in the queue... oh dear. When she came to pay she just waved her bank card in the air in much the same way that Harry Potter might wave a magic wand. The woman behind the till had to take the card off of her and show her how to use it.

 

I got to the motorway and was rather dismayed to see that some genius had re-installed the stupidity that is Operation Brock. Again there were cars mixed in with the lorries in the coast-bound carriageway, and again there was too much traffic going far too fast in the London-bound carriageway. But the those at Kent County Council know best... 

 

As I drove the pundits on the radio were talking about the world's reaction to the tariffs President Trump has put on them. Interestingly some American spokesman was on saying that the UK government should shut its rattle and be grateful that the tariffs on the UK are less than half of that on the EU. 

No one wanted to address why Russia doesn't face any tariffs.

And there was talk about the disaster relief operations in Myanmar. The general consensus was that it is now too late to expect to find anyone else still alive, and pointed comments were made about the lack of American response to the earthquake.

Not that I'm in any way defending them, but I can see the American point of view. For years the USA has been there in the forefront of international disaster relief. But now that the orange idiot has done his level best to trash the American economy they've got to make savings.

 

I got to work, and as I had a cuppa before I started I had a little phone call. One of the journalists at Radio Kent has recently discovered geocaching and they were doing a feature on it this morning. Would I talk to her about it? I did. I’m told that the interview I gave was broadcast at about half past ten.

And I had an email at work. There's a new position being advertised. They want someone to oversee training in pathology labs across the county. Back in the day I'd have jumped for a job like this. Nowadays I just want a quiet life.

Tea time was good - there were doughnuts. Mind you at two hundred calories a go, that was over one tenth of my daily calorie allowance on one bun.

 

I came home where “Daddies’ Little Angel ^TM” and “Darcie WaaWaa ^TM” have come to stay for the weekend. I’m worn out already.

3 April 2025 (Thursday) - Painting Gnomes

Last night I made a start on painting my new garden ornaments. Finding myself awake earlier than I might have been this morning I cracked on and got the Rupert statue painted. He looked a bit boss-eyed if you look closely… and rather scary too. I shall stick that statue somewhere in the garden where people won’t look that closely.

 

I made toast and had my usual rummage round the Internet. It was still there. Not much was happening on social media, but there was a post on the “Blood Bank Professionals” group. I follow several work-related groups on Facebook; partly out of a desire to learn something, and partly out of a sense of utter amazement at what goes on in America. In the UK we have strict national standards to which we must adhere, and everyone does just that. In the USA there’s either no standards at all, or if there are they are treated as guidelines that you might wish to follow if you could be bothered. Time and again people are posting “what would you do if…” to Facebook and then describe a scenario for which I’ve had written instructions for as long as I can remember.

Bear this in mind when you want to vote for someone who advocates an American-style form of healthcare in which your treatment is that advocated by the first person to post to a random Facebook group.

 

I had an email too. Some time ago (16^th January) I wrote to my county councilor and my MP about the flooding at the underpass by Asda. Both replied promising to look into the matter. Overnight the MP replied. He’d been on to the county  council and been told that “it is not viable to provide remedy of flooding at this location. Even if the wall was extended, the area forms a low point so rainwater and surface water from higher ground would continue to collect with no means of escape. The council has no control of the source of flooding in this instance so there will be some instances where the route will unfortunately be unavailable for use until the river levels recede”. The obvious answer would be to find the source of the flooding and consequently who does have control of it but, as I replied to my MP, he’s actually taken time to look into the issue.

I suppose that if nothing else I now have the name of someone at Kent County Council who knows something about the matter. I’ll get onto him and ask him what is the actual source of the flooding.

Bearing in mind my county councilor is up for re-election I’d have thought he might have taken the time to reply. Having said that, my MP has paid staff to reply for him. Do county councilors have paid staff to do their bidding?

 

I also had an email telling me about a geo-event in Viccie park later in the month, and I saw that someone had found that geocache I didn’t find on Monday.

I tried to Munz, but the Munzee website was poggered. So instead I Wordled. Starting with “plate” I worked through “dream” to get “shear” on the third go.  

 

I put a load of washing in to scrub then took the dogs to the woods where we had a rather uneventful walk right up till when we got back to the car park where we met two women who had at least ten dogs between them. They recognized me, and commented how I never wanted Fudge and now I’ve got three dogs. I wonder who they were.

 

We came home. I made a cuppa then cracked on in the garden. I hung out the washing, mowed the lawn, cleaned both pond filters, topped up the water filters, got out the garden table and then feeling that I needed a rest spent the afternoon painting gnomes. Those things are surprisingly heavy, and I felt my back twinging as I moved them about. Painting four gnomes took over four hours, but it kept me out of mischief.

My dad used to make garden gnomes. His were really good, but people kept stealing them. I wonder if I might make some – but by the time I’ve got moulds and mixed the cement it’s a lot of farting about. Especially when Whelans are knocking them out for a fiver.

 

“er indoors ^TM” boiled up bangers and mash which we scoffed whilst watching that new thing on UK Gold featuring Martin Clunes and Neil Morrissey on a little holiday going round France. It was claimed that Neil Morrissey now lives there. His page on Wikipedia doesn’t mention it.

 

My face is glowing – I think I caught the sun today. And my back hurts again.

2 April 2025 (Tuesday) - Dead Butt Syndrome

A few weeks ago we had a run-in with a rather over-excitable horse which I reported to the public rights of way people at Kent County Council. Overnight I received an email from someone called Denis  saying that “Dangerous animals and livestock incidents are enforced by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive)”. I told Denis that a month had passed and it was all rather late.

It must be wonderful to work in a job that has absolutely no urgency.

 

Once I’d scoffed toast and watched another episode of “Orange is the New Black” I got ready for work. I went to my car which was absolutely miles away, brought it to the now vacant parking space outside the house and unloaded all the stuff I got in Whelan’s yesterday. One of the biggest problems with the late shifts is my being unable to park anywhere remotely near the house when I get home. Last night I drove past the house and then circled the local streets for twenty minutes trying to find a parking space. As did at least six other cars that I saw driving round also all trying to park. The trouble is that people don’t park sensibly. Bays that could hold seven cars have five as no one gives a thought as to how they are going to abandon their car.

 

I went round to the co-op to get dinner. Once I'd fed my loose change into the self-service machine I saw Martin getting his shopping. We chatted for a bit, then I set off to work. As I drove the pundits on the radio were playing recordings of yesterday's parliamentary debates. I say "debates"; "petty bickering" would be closer to the truth. Those elected to run the show were squabbling like ill-behaved brats. I was reminded of the fruits of my loin quarrelling when they were small and very tired. Perhaps if someone were to send the MPs to bed with slapped arses the country might be in a better state.

This was followed by an interview with the head honcho of the British Butterfly Brigade who said that butterfly numbers have been on the decrease for fifty years. He also said that buddleias are good for butterflies, so I'm doing my bit. Even if unintentionally.

 

I got to work and did my bit. As I skived so a contingent of senior managers from other local hospitals came through. As they wandered past one of then cheerfully said "hello Dave". I wonder who he was?  Something similar happened yesterday as well. As I was putting petrol into my car the woman at the next pump said hello and started chatting. She clearly knew me even though I had no idea who she was.

And then a colleague was complaining that she was in pain after running on account of her having "lazy glutes", or "dead butt syndrome" to use the technical term.

Apparently people who run or walk a lot get this if they stop running or walking for any length of time... which is probably why a long dog walk is hard work if I've not taken them out for a while.  It turns out that one of the recognised treatments for this condition (in sports clinics) is infusions of the injured person's own platelets. Platelet transfusions are something I oversee every day... but autologous (your own platelets) transfusions can be given for a range of conditions including sports injury and hair loss.

I might just over-over from NHSBT and rub a couple of doses on my head.

 

I was glad when home time came – I think I might have over-done the lifting what I emptied my car earlier. My back was rather tender.

As “er indoors ^TM” boiled up dinner I spotted she’d had a haircut. Go me. We had a rather good bit of dinner which we washed down with a bottle of chianti. Bearing in mind my being up at silly o’clock this morning I’m hoping this will have me fast asleep before too much longer.

1 April 2025 (Tuesday) - Before the Late Shift

After a night filled with vivid dreams of being neck deep in private ponds attempting to harvest water lilies I woke with a rather bad backache. Being the first of the month I shaved with a new razor blade (I’m mean – I make them last) then had my usual look on-line.

Yesterday I’d asked on one of the pond-related Facebook pages if anyone knew anywhere selling cheap lilies. Amazingly there weren’t that many smartarse replies. It seems that there are water lilies for sale for a tenner – in places like Liverpool and Manchester.

For some reason today’s Facebook feed was filled with adverts for matresses. I did a sleep test – my sleep chronotype is “dolphin” . Apparently “dolphins” are ten per cent of people, and they sleep like I do. My sleep score is sixty-six not that this means anything to me.

 

I munzed, wordled (piece – meter – level – jewel).  I saw that the geocache I’d chased after yesterday had been replaced. I couldn’t be arsed to go chasing it again. Instead I took the dogs to Orlestone Woods. It can be muddy there, but it is a shorter walk and closer to home. We went there, had a good walk round the woods and were home about two hours earlier than when we come home from Kings Wood.

 

As we drove home the pundits on the radio were discussing meetings in the workplace. It was claimed that the average person spends over twenty hours a week in meetings and is still expected to do a full time job, and that many people are doing the actual work in their own time in evenings and weekends.

I can remember when I was a manager telling my boss that I didn’t want to go to any more meetings. He knew what he wanted to happen and we could all save time by his simply giving out orders. He replied that I wasn’t a team player.

I also once put in a formal suggestion that a random time of day be picked, and anyone found in a meeting anywhere in the hospital at that time be summarily sacked as they clearly weren’t doing any work. That didn’t go down well.

I was once ordered to a meeting to discuss our workplace’s approach to another upcoming meeting, the outcome of which had already been decided (but we still went through both meetings).

Meetings are an utter waste of time… why do so many people love them.

 

I uploaded last month’s diaries to the backup, put my winter shirts away and got out the summer ones (I change shirts at daylight saving time) and got ready for the off.

 

I went to Sainsburys to get some petrol. I got lunch whilst I was at it, and then set off up the motorway singing along to Ivor Biggun songs. With a little time on my hands I took a small (forty miles) diversion up to Sheerness and Whelans to get some more garden odds and ends. With most places selling garden gnomes at about ten to fifteen quid, Whelans knock them out (unpainted) for a fiver. I got gnome paint and gnome varnish as well. And an unpainted Rupert Bear statue whilst I was at it. Hopefully gnome paint will do for Rupert; if it does, that will give me something to do on my next day off.

 

As I drove back down Detling hill I saw that petrol there was seven pence a litre more expensive than what I'd just paid in Ashford. I smiled a smug smile. The smug smile lasted until I got to the Aylesford Sainsburys where their petrol was five pence a litre cheaper than what I'd paid. That's a variation of twelve pence per litre in twenty-five miles. It pays to shop about.

I bought a box of half a dozen beers for the weekend and some tennis balls for dog club, then went on to work. I parked up... and fell asleep.

Fortunately  I woke in time for the late shift and as is so often the case all the good bits of the day were over and done with by the early afternoon. I don't dislike my job like I used to... but sometimes I do find that work is hard work...