14 December 2012 (Friday) - The News

An early night would have been good. If only next door hadn't been shrieking at each other I might have managed a little extra kip. My beloved came home from flogging candles at 2am, and then snored like a thing possessed for the rest of the night. I didn't want to sleep anyway.

And so up early, a quick bite of brekkie, and off to work. I was glad to see that the temperature had risen and that the car wasn't covered in ice. Thank heavens for small mercies. The morning's news had something of interest. Last night at astro club we wondered if Patrick Moore's house would be sold; we thought it would make a marvellous museum. Apparently that was what Sir Patrick wanted, and it might just be a museum for budding astronomers. His house was a special place, and I was once privileged to be shown around it. And given cake in there too.

It would be good for others to have the chance to see how this iconic figure lived. Mind you, the punters will have to buy their own cake.

In other news it seems that car road tax discs are to go. In this modern age, sticking a bit of paper in the windscreen is seen as somewhat old hat. Police will use number plate reading technology which will probably spot miscreants more easily than trying to identify forged discs. Paper driving licences are to go as well. Personally I'm amazed it's taken so long for the technology to catch on.

And then there was the announcement about a new species of primate having been discovered. Shock horror - it's only just been discovered and its an endangered species already. Am I the only one who isn't amazed by this news. this can't come as a surprise, can it? Any species which has gone so long without having been discovered can hardly be commonplace, can it?

Some news items should be headlined "Dur!!"

Also there was the announcement of the discovery of the world's oldest cheesmongery. It would seem that as well as iron and fish, cheese has been monged since antiquity. Archaeologists have apparently unearthed evidence that cheese was being made over five thousand years ago.

I'm no expert, but regular readers of this drivel will know that I have dabbled in matters arky-ological from time to time. Personally I can't see how anyone could distinguish fossilised Wensleydale from a manky bit of broken pot, or a random rock.

But news isn't news without piss being boiled. This morning not so much boiled as simmered. Why is it that those in positions of high office are expected to apologize for that which happened so long ago? The leader of the opposition is to apologize for things the previous government did when he was just a lowly back bench MP, and the governments to apologize for Alan Turing's conviction for his homosexuality in the 1950s (which was actually illegal at the time).

How can anyone apologize for that which happened so long ago, and about which they could not possibly carry any responsibility?

A few years ago I was very conscious that I was very out of touch with current affairs, and had been so for some years. That was the reason why I started listening to Radio Four on my way to work in the morning.

It would seem that I never missed very much of note...

13 December 2012 (Thursday) - A Birthday

As I was scoffing brekkie Fudge was sitting on the top of the sofa watching the world go by. The phone rang and made him jump. So much so that he fell off the sofa. I did laugh. I didn't laugh at the phone call. We get so many calls from 0843 numbers that, on answering, don't respond and then hang up. I wish they didn't call.

The most recent fruit of my loin arrived (with Sid), and we took both dogs for a walk. Fudge’s behaviour is improving. He’s still a pain at times, but he’s far better than he ever was. We came home, and soon the in-laws were with us. It was my father-in-law’s birthday today, and we went out for lunch. Whilst geocaching the other week we’d walked past the Five Bells in Brabourne. It had looked good, so we went there.

They had a locally made stout on the hand pump, and an all-day breakfast. Very nice. And then home for coffee and to proof-read a three thousand word essay on renaissance artists. Not that I know much on the subject, but that didn't stop me proof-reading it.

A quick squabble on Facebook, and then out. First of all to Lisa's house to collect an artificial duck for reasons which will become clear in a future blog entry. Then on to Tesco to get supplies for the work's Christmas buffet. Whist in Tesco's I saw Mr Creosote (of "Monty Python" fame) - this chap really did have the look and build of Mr Creosote. Poor chap. When I came out I found that a tractor was parked next to my car. What was that all about?

And then on to the abode of "the man with no alias (patent pending)" for an astro club committee meeting. Plans for the Christmas meeting, plans for Stargazing Live, plans for the future. Good times... just a shame that the complete cloud cover prevented me from seeing tonight's meteor shower...

12 December 2012 (Wednesday) - 12-12-12

Geocachers are closet numerologists, They like confluences of numbers, and so today's date (12-12-12) got them rather over-excited. There was a midnight meeting arranged, so we went along. About forty of us met up at the Tesco car park by Junction 12 of the M20 motorway. We chatted for a bit, and then at the stroke of midnight it was suggested we checked the local cache list. Sure enough, twelve new geocaches had gone live in honour of the occasion. Everyone sped off on an impromptu geocaching mission, and we joined in too. Signing logs as "Team ELF" we got five "first to finds", got stuck in ice, and got very cold too. But for all that I was frozen and couldn't see a thing I wouldn't have missed the event for the world,

We thought we'd do a few caches. We ended up finding eleven of the series of twelve, finally coming home shortly after 3am, rolling into my pit just before 4am.

I awoke shortly after 9am, and leapt out of bed thinking that Furry Face would be wondering what had happened. I came downstairs and I felt sick. He was laying in his basket, totally oblivious to my having come downstairs. Opening doors and turning on lights got no reaction from him at all. I honestly thought he was dead. Then he gave the biggest snore you ever did hear. He was fine; just absolutely worn out from the night's fun. I stroked him and he eventually looked up, gave a wag of his tail, and went back to sleep.

I had a quick bit of brekkie and, leaving my beloved in her pit, put the lead on Fudge and took him round the block. The plans for the rest of the day didn't feature him, so he needed an outing. We were out for half an hour; part of it involving a run for a few hundred yards. He seemed to like the run.

Home again, and with my beloved out of her pit we got ready for the day. The Bat soon arrived, we collected the Hurks, and set off to Sandgate. Some might call it excessive, but there was a second meeting of the Kent geocaching community today; this one at mid day. We arrived at the Brittannia in Shornecliffe to find quite a few other people already there. Some had been to the midnight event; some had not. It was good to put faces to names, it was good to meet friends; old and new. The pub did a wonderful meal, and with that scoffed we then set off to see how many of the new caches we could find. As we'd eaten, a dozen new geocaches had gone live locally in honour of this event. People soon sped off in their different directions to get searching.

We soon found our first cache thanks to judicious use of my tool (Ooer!), and were the first to find it. We gave up searching for the second one after half an hour. The third cache featured something I've never encountered before - a run-in with an irate landowner. An obnoxious little turd appeared from nowhere and claimed some unfenced rough land was his personal property. Apparently he lets his dogs loose on it and if they had seen me, then... At that point he shook his head. Quite frankly if his dog had done anything vicious then I would have had no hesitation in killing the dangerous animal as a public service. But I thought it best not to aggravate the fool. Perhaps I should have done.

The little prat was like a stuck record. He didn't want apologies, he just wanted to repeat that we were on his land. After profusely apologising for ten minute (to no avail) I told him to get knotted and we drove off.

We then managed first to find on the next five caches, eventually meeting up with other cachers who had managed to be first to find at the ones we were still to do. We exchanged insults, and then finished off the series. We went back to the cache we couldn't find, and managed two FTFs on our second attempts, even finding the cache which turned out not to be on Mr Angry's land after all.

And then back to the pub to find a cache had gone live there whilst we had been out, and having got that one we had a crafty half of "Late Red" and I checked my geocaching app. That last cache had been my 899th find. So we went back into Folkestone to find the only one we missed out on during the night to put my number to the 900 mark.

And so home for a quick fried egg sandwich before setting off to collect Chippy and then making our way into town. On the way we met Steve and Sarah, and were all soon in "Oranges" where it was open-mic night. Jason and his band were performing, and we had gone along as part of rent-a-mob.

It has been said that I don't like live music. That's not entirely true. I like good live music. But for every band that is good, there are a hundred which are not. Jason's band were excellent; if let down somewhat by the sound system. Whilst the band played the Rear Admiral arrived, seemingly suitably lubricated by copious amounts of ale. For some inexplicable reason he'd come dressed as "Posh Smurf". The next act, "Ken", was also good. It was a shame the same couldn't have been said about the ale, but such is life. It was a shame that the open-mic night had so many waiting to have a go - it would have been good to have had an encore from the band we'd gone to hear. But that was not to be.

Some days in my life are dull. I put up with those for the promise of days like today...

11 December 2012 (Tuesday) - Bit Dull Really

I thought I'd have an early night last night. It took half an hour for Fudge to stop howling. I came down to him several times, and each time he made a bolt for the stairs When I'm home alone he always plays up at bed time. Two minutes after he settled my phone rang. Last Friday I set five multi-geocaches. One of them seemed somewhat elusive. It seemed I'd made a stuff-up with setting the co-ordinates. Woops.

So much for my early night. And despite all the excitement I didn't sleep well; waking at 3.30am and laying wide awake until finally giving up and getting up at 5.30am. I had a spot of brekkie, watched an episode of "The Brittas Empire" that I hadn't seen before, and set off to work.

There was thick ice on the car this morning, and a near pile-up on the ring road. Call me traditionalist if you will, but if a car is on the outside lane and indicating right I feel I am justified in thinking that car is intending to turn right. I don't think that said car is somehow trying to overtake and will in fact actually go left whilst still indicating right.

The news was alive with Parliament's discussions about gay marriage. I don't see what there is to discuss. Anyone should be able to marry anyone they want provided both (or all) parties understand what's involved and are happy with the arrangement. Whether they should be able to get married in a church is a different question, but one which is just as easily answered. The bible is quite clear on the subject, so gay people can't be married in church. Unless churches are to be forced to go against their beliefs, or vicars don't agree with what they preach.

Why is Parliament wasting its valuable time discussing something which is so straight-forward?

The most recent fruit of my loin phoned mid-morning. She'd been home with Sid and the two of them had collected Fudge and all been off on a walk. She'd phoned to tell me how impressed she was with Fudge's behaviour. He didn't once try to fight with other dogs today, and he came back when called every time. He's coming on in leaps and bounds apparently. I'm quite pleased about that. I then carried on doing my bit at work, and then came home.

Being Tuesday the tribes gathered. Another episode of Merlin. A good show - one I've taken a liking to. And then rather than going to bed we went out geocaching. Wish me luck..

10 December 2012 (Monday) - A Wasted Day

One of the services offered by parcelforce is that if you have a parcel to be sent, they will collect it from your house. So "er indoors ^TM" arranged for a parcel to be collected from us this morning. I got out of my pit earlier than I needed to and waited for postie. And waited. I put on a film to watch whilst I was waiting. I watched the lot. I watched rubbish on UK Gold. I did some housework. I did the laundry. I did the ironing. I played games on the computer.

In between this I phoned parcelforce to see what the delay was. They promised they'd phone me back. They didn't. So I phoned them again. And again I got passed from person to person, all of whom took my name and number and promised to get back to me. Eventually they phoned me back (at 6.30pm) to say they had absolutely no record of me on their system.

Oh how I laughed.

Whilst we were away at the weekend we found a dog's T shirt laying about. So I brought it home, washed it, and thought it would be good for Fudge. When we go out he does get cold. He's only a small dog and just lately he's been shivering when we've been out. A T shirt will keep him warm. Having washed and dried it I tried it on him. I've commented in the past about how he doesn't like his coat. He doesn't like his T shirt either. He had a right sulk. You can tell when he sulks because he stops moving. He just stands still and sulks.

With "er indoors ^TM" off bowling this evening, I sat in front of the telly watching more rubbish on UK Gold. Someone from the TV company phoned whilst I was slobbing to see if I was aware of their special Christmas bargains. He was rather stumped when I told him that having cancelled the sports and movie channels because I never watched them I was rather loathe to pay good money to have them back. And then there was an advert on the telly for the perfect Christmas present - a DVD of edited highlights of the Olympic Games. I suppose that people must watch that sort of thing or they wouldn't sell them. But I can't see the attraction.

And during all of this, the nice people next door clanged their piano and strangled their violin. I'm not complaining. Far from it - I welcome their noise. It means I can make all the racket I like with a clear conscience.

I will end today with an apology. It's no secret that I welcome comments on all of my witterings. If nothing else it shows people are actually reading what I write. But I have tweaked the settings. From now on the blog software will not allow anonymous comments. If you want to comment on anything I've written you will need a Google account to do so. They are easy enough to set up, and they are free. If this is a problem for anyone, then I apologize. But the amount of spam comments that I am getting from people trying to flog their wares has reached epic proportions. So if anyone wants to comment on what I write, that's fine. But they can't do it quite as anonymously as they used to any more.

9 December 2012 (Sunday) - Jack and Jill

I felt rather rough when I woke this morning. But I woke to the sound of tea and coffee being made. Soon everyone was up and about, and Tracy made the best bacon and mushroom wraps I've ever tasted. Unfortunately Tracy couldn't join us for the day's outing, so we said our goodbyes. It's such a shame we won't meet again for ages. Really must do something about that.

But Dave had ideas, and lead us off into deepest West Sussex. We parked up at the Jack and Jill windmills and walked though wonderful countryside down to the Chattri monument. Yesterday was a glorious day. There's no denying that today was cold. The wind was bitter at times, and my hangover didn't help. But I was in the most beautiful countryside with good friends. I wouldn't have missed being there for the world.

Whilst we were in the area we took in a few of the local geocaches; including something I've not seen before. Two geocaches seemingly being hidden at the same place. The rules say that they should be a tenth of a mile apart. Something has clearly gone wrong. I understand that both caches have now been squealed up to the relevant authorities.

After three hours we were chilled to the bone, so we made our way to the nearest pub. Bearing in mind how many calories there are in beer, and also bearing in mind that the second bottle of port last night was possibly a mistake, and not forgetting how cold I was I chose not to have beer. Instead I went for hot chocolate. One small pissy-little cup of hot chocolate cost as much as a pint of ale. And they wonder why people don't go to pubs these days(!)

All too soon we had to say goodbye to Dave. We won't leave it so long next time, but for now (as always) there are photos of what I got up to on-line.

We came home. Had we been thinking we would have gone home via Hastings and the family Christmas party. But we weren't thinking, and we forgot all about it until we were home. And once home we collected Furry Face who apparently had enjoyed having a lazy weekend. The house does seem a better place for having him under foot again.

I then checked the internet to see what I'd missed in the day or so that I'd been away. Over the last few weeks there had been talk of setting geocaches designed to be found at night. Ones with reflectors and stuff. I'd expressed interest in helping set these caches, and came home to find they'd been put out in my absence. Oh well.

There was also sad news. Sir Patrick Moore has died. Regular readers of this drivel may recall that I once met him. He was a wonderful fellow, and the world will be a sadder place for his going.

Meanwhile in another plane of existence "Ted the Spanner" has arrived on the scene. He has a large tool. He is not averse to brandishing his implement whenever the opportunity arises. One cannot help but wonder how much opportunity will arise over the next few days...

8 December 2012 (Saturday) - Lewes

I had an early night last night. Just as I was dozing off there was a frantic hammering on next door's front door. The hammering continued; I looked out to see a couple of policemen on their doorstep. They continued hammering on the door for five minutes before giving up and going off on their way.

"er indoors ^TM" came home quietly at 3am which was nice. Why is it that that these little episodes never happen on nights that I'm laying wide awake?

I got up perhaps a little earlier than I might, and came down to a very early house. I've got used to being greeted by a sleepy Fudge in the morning, but with him being away this weekend there was no one downstairs. For someone who's definitely not a dog person I found myself really missing Furry Face (who had only been gone for twelve hours). We brekkied and having collected the Rear Admiral we set off for deepest Sussex. We don't see anywhere near enough of Dave and Tracy,and having suggested a weekend's geocaching round Lewes today, we took Dave up on the offer. We all met up at the start of the Lewes circular. and had a really good walk through the Sussex countryside.

Three hours later with the walk done we drove into Lewes to find Tracy. We also found Simon and Corinne and we had a crafty pint (or two) in the Lewes Arms. From there we went on to the brewery shop of Harvey's brewery. They had a whisky tasting going on. It's always been my ambition to find a whisky that I like. I am still searching.

Pausing only briefly to do a few geocaches in Stanmer Park we then went back the the Davery for a rather tasty bit of tea, and a few beers, and some sillyness, and more beer, and cheese and port, and more siillyness, and it all got rather vague.....