where art collides

Twas wild night in shire. Blowy. Early start. Sleepless set alarm. Tea cup early. Station drop. Awaiting bacon roll. Four just walked past me to next carriage! Mine arrived. Not particularly good. Serves purpose.

Long day ahead.

Nuarque arrivée. Blameless platformed passengers bear coats. Cold. Brought my Black Yak beanie. Needless Miami. Final destination. Airport meet Joe Marion at. Few sherberts. Late for me.

Sky grows lighter. Clouds, medium grey. Shade twenty five.

Half way to London. Just leaving town. Dressed comfortably for the flight. Flight of the Trefor. Put on phones. Listen to fave tunes. Need to consider downloading some vids for flight. Rarely anything I want to watch on the in flight entertainment. Not my thang.

In my own world on the underground 

The Express train for Heathrow Airport pulls gently away from the platform and gradually picks up speed. I am alone in the compartment. Three members of staff join me en route to their shift in Terminal five.

First Class check in is a dream.

We breeze through security to the haven that is the Concorde lounge. Leisurely breakfast sets up the day.

…

Slept five hours on the plane. Good kip. A pot of tea before landing and 15 somewhat chaotic mins from the gate to the exit from security. None of the escalators were working occasioning large queues to get onto the stairs. Took Charles almost two hours. The difference was entirely down to Global Entry versus non Global Entry. There was only one passport booth open for ‘foreign’ arrivals whereas Global Entry had two. Hooray for Global Entry.

Picked up the v cool Mustang convertible hire car which friend Joe Marion who had met me off the plane drove to the hotel. Took us a while to figure out how the valet parking worked but we soon ended up in a bar called Cucu’s Nest just down the street. Bit noisy so moved on to the National Hotel over the road. Joe (son Joe not the one I met last night) and I are staying there a couple of nights in early February to finish off our dad and lad trip.

The pianist and chanteuse in the bar at the National were also quite noisy but we weren’t moving again. Also I was only wearing a tshirt whereas a sweater would have been totally appropriate. Not warm inside or out – air con versus January weather.

Headed on a bit of a road trip to the keys today so will dress a bit warmer. 

Huevos Rancheros breakfast beckons.

Catch ya later.

Patrolled the first floor of the Davies mansion this morning at 5.30am. Was listening out to see if I could hear any signs of squirrels returning to the attic. Don’t think I could hear anything but the mind certainly plays games on you. I suspect any audible sounds were my stomach or something outside the house. 

Reminds me when, as yoof of 17, I was on night watch on the sail training schooner the Malcolm Miller. We were in the English channel and I kept imagining I could see something in the distance. Was only my eyes playing games.

There is something quite magical about being up at that time of day. Don’t recall exactly the time but it would have been something like 2am. Let’s say 4 bells on the middle watch. Cup of hot chocolate to keep you going.

I just looked up the Malcolm Miller. She was sold in the year 2000 along with her sister ship the Winston Churchill which does fill me with some melancholy. I would have sailed on her around 1979. They must have reached the end of their useful service and have now been replaced by other sailing ships. Strange that a ship, which we traditionally refer to as feminine, would have male names. Slifeinnit. I’d love to go again.

Walking around the house this morning I stopped to look out of the windows of various bedrooms. It’s amazing how much traffic there is at that time of day. Our own cars looked lifeless in the wet front drive. Sleeping beasts waiting to be brought into life.

In other news got the nod that my certificate of air quality is on its way:

“Nous vous prions de bien vouloir trouver en pièce jointe votre facture relative à votre commande de certificat de qualité de l’air concernant le véhicule immatriculé xxxxxxx.

Votre certificat sera expédié prochainement par courrier à l’adresse de livraison indiquée lors de la commande.

Dans l’attente, cette facture vous permet de justifier de votre démarche et du classement de votre véhicule.

Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, nos salutations distinguées.

Le service de délivrance des certificats de qualité de l’air”

Need it apparently when entering certain conurbations in La Belle France. Was (surprisingly) relatively painless to apply for and considering I wasn’t totes sure what some of the questions in French were really asking me my form filling seems to have worked. Bien.

When I was at school we had to study a foreign language. The choice was usually French or German and I went for the former. I naturally assume that most people, at least in my age bracket, had to do the same. It surprises me how many folk I know have little understanding of any foreign language. 

All our kids studied French and one of them took it to degree level. When I listen to said offspring speak French I am amazed at her accent. I don’t really bother trying to get the accent right. My philosophy is that as long as they can understand what I’m trying to say then that is fine. N’est pas? Shrugs shoulder.

Dois y aller. il est temps de faire le thé 🙂

PS I did run google translate on the email – just to be sure 🙂

…

Later, the pesky squirrel has been heard again. Need to persevere with the hunt.

Waiting for the shed to warm up. I don’t think it is particularly cold out but it has become my customer and practice to switch off the panel heater overnight in order to save the planet. I also turn off any LEDs (printer and screens) but that is more a light pollution issue. I don’t want to be able to see lights on at the bottom of the garden when the shed is empty and it is dark. The switch and AP are not visible from the house so that is ok.

It is interesting how light pollution is creeping into our lives. When we moved into this house a quarter of a century (gosh) or so ago the previous occupant had fitted electrical sockets with red LEDs which I thought was a bit over the top. However we now also have two showers, and two APs that glow in the dark, the latter in blue. I have been able to switch off the RING doorbell chimes’ LEDs.

I quite like the idea that during the night a house should be in total darkness. We would have to move to the country and ditch the aforementioned appliances in order to do this. This would come with huge downsides: crap broadband, one bus service a week etc. It ain’t gonna happen. The allotments out the back will have to do 🙂

Where we live right now I have occasionally caught a bus from town but it isn’t too far to walk and I rarely go into downtown Lincoln. Far too many people, you can’t walk in a straight line and it is full of the same high street brands you see in any town in the country. There is nothing there for me.

The other thing about living in the countryside is that a village these days will often not have a pub. How do people cope. I’m not exactly a regular pub goer anymore, since covid got me out of the habit and my keto diet kicked in but a village is not a place to live unless it has a church, a pub and a village shop. I’d only attend the former for weddings and funerals etc but the others I’d make a point of frequenting. I would even consider taking a daily paper. FT probs, at least at the weekend.

Keep meaning to subscribe to the FT. Might get around to it. My subscription to the Caravan and Motorhome Club (£50 a year and used once in two years) comes with a monthly magazine that I never read and intend shortly to shred and consign to the compost bin. Not getting the mag once a month will be a step forward. I keep getting emails pushing caravan reversing courses and other such items of a highly relevant nature, at least for the enthusiastic weekend caravanner. Not moi.

Most of our pals now have motorhomes. We have vintage VW campervans that are uber cool but don’t have onboard toilets and showers. Sometimes I wish I had a motorhome like the others but we just wouldn’t use it. When we go to the South of France for a month in September we aint taking a van and are probably in for three grand’s worth of accommodation costs plus a mortgage’s worth of fuel. 

The others, in their motorhomes will use at least as much fuel but lower site costs. I dunno. So we will have spent a few bob more (in largely very nice accommodation) but not had to shell out forty grand of the vehicle plus the annual maintenance and running costs. Obvs we will probably spend more on evening meals but half our booked accommodation is self catering villas etc so the difference wouldn’t be that great. Also we are there for the rugby. The cost of the beer is not going to be insignificant.

New jobs list started for 2023. I’ve carried some jobs over. These jobs rarely have a deadline. Obvs they would always be done before any deadline 🙂

Looking forward to an austere start to the year in stark contrast to the excesses of the somewhat extended Christmas period. The austerity will not be massively long lived as we are off out on both Friday and Saturday nights but hey. Gotta live the life.

The last of our visitors go home today. Peace in our time. I remember when we as a family used to visit mam and dad they would always be excited to see us but would also happily wave us off with a deep sense of relief when we left for home.

I’m quite pleased to announce that I am over my cold. Typical innit. Just as the holidays finish. Thanks a bunch. Ah well. Never mind.

…

Dropped the departees off at the stayshun and figured I’d take a stroll around Currys/PC World. Shouldn’t have bothered. Absolutely nothing I wanted or needed. No particular sale prices from what I could see. Traffic was a nightmare getting in and out. The whole world was there. 

Overheard a woman say to her partner. ‘I think Galaxy is best.’ Curious. Gave me the impression that Samsung’s advertising had worked. If I ever want to buy a such a gadget l spend days researching every little nuance and tech spec. I buy it online knowing exactly what I want and why I want it. Doesn’t happen too often. You need a three or four year gap between handsets to make it worthwhile, certainly at those prices.

Then mosied across the road to B&Q. Car park not as full as Currys but still bugger all I needed. I’m now home watching ‘The Battle of the River Plate’. Somehow I only watch old movies. BBC2 HD fwiw 🙂

Tis a beeootiful day out.

…

Well. The first working day back, ish. Not totes sure how much work I will do but there ya go. Once I get into it will be foine. Probs.

I have a lane swim booked for 3pm. First in a year since they closed the pool. Probably won’t manage more than 20 mins but it will be a start innit.

Now sat in waiting for the CityFibre installation team. Sat calmly. Peace has been restored to the Davies residence with the departure of the last remaining visitors yesterday.

In other news just had an email from BA telling me that the flight I booked yesterday from Toulouse has been cancelled. Blimmin annoying. Ah well. No rush to sort. They have suggested a 10.45 departure which ain’t gonna work. The airport is 90 mins from where we are staying.

Feels quite good to get Christmas and New Year out of the way. Anne’s very excellent homemade granola with yoghurt for breakfast. Still some booze left in the fridge but that can stay where it is for the foreseeable.

Would be quite useful to have a more accurate window than 8am to 1pm for the fibre install. I don’t feel I can get on with things until they arrive as I’ll need to give them access to the garage etc.

One cautionary note btw. If reaching behind the Christmas tree to get the extension lead don’t wear a thick woollen jumper. You end up with loads of pine needles in the jumper. They are difficult to extract. CityFibre needs two electrical sockets. The ONT only needs one so I assume the other is to plug the test kit in to show that it is working. I won’t get it up and running until the cabling is run to the attic.

Just finished a booklet entitled ‘Quantum Listening’. Very interesting. All about Deep Listening. Sitting here in the shed feels like a perfect spot to practise Deep Listening. Although it feels quiet and calm in the shed, there is a lot to hear if you put your mind to it. Even if it is just the fall of water onto the roof from the trees above.

I spotted the book as an exhibit at the Tate Liverpool and took a pic to remind me. Then I found it was for sale in the Tate shop so it went in the tote bag with all the other stuff we bought and reappeared on Christmas Day. I’m obviously easy to buy for 🙂

While I’m sat waiting I thought I’d call the doctor’s surgery. Had a sms telling me it was about time I had my annual checkup. Caller number 14 in the queue. That’ll wait then. Every man and his runny nose will be on hold. My runny nose runneth no more, fortunately. 

Never occurred to me to call the doc for my cold. Just bought Beechams, Lemsip, paracetamol etc. In fact shortly before New Year’s Eve the shops seemed to have run dry of the stuff (pun intended) so not everyone was holding off to call the surgery.

Second cautionary note – I did not consume all the above mentioned medicines at the same time.

Got a feeling this city fibre visit is going to be a no show. It’s already 11.50 and the window closes at 1pm. Ended up calling Superfi whilst waiting. Sorted out my surround sound problem. They are brilliant. My contact Anthony fixed the problem in no time. Also called the docs again. Now up to caller 21. Manāna.

I do also need to call the bank about something but I need a clear morning in front of me to be able to cope with that stress. 

The cathedral bells have just tolled midday. A call for monks to midday prayer no doubt. It’s quite handy for us non monks as it reminds me it isn’t long before I head in and fix meself an omelette, today’s designated lunch item.

…

Omelette was deelish btw. En route back to the shed the ambucopter flew over with a sense of purpose. I always feel sad when I see an ambulance race by as it usually means bad news at the other end. It is a good thing that we have the helicopter in Lincolnshire though. It’s a big county, areawise.

CityFibre rocked up and the terminals are now in. Just waiting on the glass now. Getting there slowly.

That’ll do.

…

Is your journey really necessary? Reminds me a bit of World War 2, not that I was around. Saw something simlar online relating to the current train strikes.Can’t find it again now. Was on the Grauniad website. Looked up ‘WW2 propaganda posters’ and found one about turning the gas down. All sounds pretty familiar. Even ‘rationing’, when you think about the shortages on supermarket shelves we have seen in recent living memory. Ah well (buries head in sand).

Up early. Heard the milkman at 05.30. The arrival of the milkman can have the same effect as ‘Thought For The Day’ on BBC Radio4. Gets me out of bed. Was lying there awake when he arrived. Good night’s kip actually. The wee small hours of the morning can be a v productive time.

Sluggish start to the day. Occasioned by some medicinal whisky taken last night. I have to say it caught me a bit by surprise as I didn’t have that much medicine. I don’t think you ever live and learn.

The shed needs a bit of a tidy. I can count at least three laptops strewn around the place with accompanying accessories. The place is not really my own at holiday time although one conference caller was booted to the conservatory when her inputs to her own meeting began to interrupt mine. I don’t have that many meetings as such and typically stay out of the shed if there are already two people in residence.

New Year’s Eve. Today we dream of world peace, love, happiness and hopes for a bright future. No homeless on the streets, no long waits at the NHS. Everyone has enough money  to satisfy their needs so no strikes. I don’t think this is asking too much. Why can’t we have all this?

I hope that 2023 brings you all of this and anything I may have missed that is specific to your particular sitch. 

Lotsalove <3

…

The log fire has been lit and is now roaring appropriately in line with its job description. I’m glad I bought a big bag of logs. Outside the rain falls steadily. All is quiet. All is good. 

There are still chocolates on the Christmas tree. This is truly unheard of. I’ve been making inroads but there are only so many Christmas tree chocs you can eat in one session.

My chosen life partner is sat opposite, attracted by the promise of the fire. One of life’s pleasures, sitting quietly together, keeping each other company.

Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending flutters in the corner contributing to the relaxed vibe.

Our house has six sofas. That’s a fair number. An over’s worth. You may have more or you may have fewer. This is not about who has most sofas. It’s simply a statement of fact. I’m sat on one of them by the fire, almost within marshmallow toasting reach. Not that I’m about to start toasting marshmallows. Don’t want to spoil my appetite for later. It’s bad enough helping myself to the tree chocs.

I probably use more of the sofas than any other occupant of maison Davies. I don’t systematically work my way around the house trying out the sofas. It’s just that I use the front room more than anyone else and that alone has three of the sofas.

One of them is in the shed. 

…

Sausages sizzling in the pan herald the start of a new year. Not an obvious indicator I know but it is so 🙂The kitchen is brightly lit and today is the penultimate day of the “official” holiday.

We are using up what is left from the Christmas excess and tonight Hannah and George are cooking us a grand finale Thai meal to mark the end of their stay.

Tuesday is looking very active. Weather permitting, Rosso is coming to start on the new BBQ area (granite worktop etc), CityFibre (Kelly) are coming to install my FTTP connection and I will be back in the newly reopened pool at Yarborough Leisure Centre. It’s been closed for a year which has been v annoying and most inconvenient.

Those three items mark an optimistic start to 2023. Having the pool back should be life changing and the improvements to the BBQ area will be a big step up from what is there now.

I am also hopeful that the 1gig symmetrical will be a real bonus. I’ve taken the opportunity to revamp the home network and once the CItyFire/AAISP connection is in will demote the old Virgin docsis connection to being a backup and switch off its associated wifi. Only pain is that I’ll need to run an Ethernet cable or fibre from the garage to the attic where the router sits but hey…

January looks set to be a very busy month generally.