Out of office
Lunchtime on Friday I set my out of office with words to the effect of ‘See you next month, bitches!’ except couched in far more
It ain’t where you think it is
You know when you walk into a room and you’ve already forgotten what it was you walked into the room for? Well this isn’t that
Film review: Snowpiercer (2013)
Background:I am a recent convert to the Snowpiercer work; coming in at the third version of the tale. The first telling is in the French
We’re all going on a…
Summer Holiday! These are unusual times and the risks of mixing with too many people are, frankly, risky. So we have deferred the fortnight away
Going for Bronze
The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme may have changed since I got my award, but in those far-off days gaining an award boiled down to:
Some more whimsy!
Totally inspired by a twitter conversation with @CharlieCoffee, where we started musing about gigs that we went to as youngsters, I’ve been using my dogwalking
Jobs, jobs, jobs; and holidays
The last few weekends I’ve been pretty busy outside. I quite like being busy outside (ssssh, don’t tell anyone – taps finger against nose). A
Is everybody happy?
Are we all thoroughly enjoying Lockdown Life? In a number of ways I don’t actually want it to go back to the old normal. I’m
Lockdown observations
The driver of a convertible, on a sunny day, with his roof down, but wearing a mask Our neighbours opposite moving house yesterday, also No
The WFH routine
This is an interesting study in the evolution of the working day. When I WFHed before, I’d catch up on overnight work stuff from the
Motor insurance v2.0
At the beginning of last month I wrote about changing insurers for the Ninja, and moving away from Hastings Premier because expensive, and going to
And the winner of Today’s Idle Thought is…
Fourfoot Said, over on the twitter, the other day, that to relieve the lockdown boredom he was composing a Top Ten list of pubs in
Dreaming dreams
I’ve been noticing a rising theme on the Twitters over the last 2-3 weeks. As lockdown/self-isolation has bitten, increasing numbers of people are reporting a
Losing track of time?
I’m three weeks into WFH; it is proving an interesting experience. Bits of my routine are the same, bits of it are very different. As
There’s nothing common about common sense
At the time of writing we are in the relatively early stages of a global pandemic. I use the phrase ‘relatively early stages’ because globally,
Four wheels bad, erm, six wheels good?
The year before last, in the early spring, the two of us went to Vietnam. And later that year, for our summer family holiday, we
New hobby (obsession?)
I do appreciate Wikipedia. I make a small annual contribution to the service, and I regularly use it as a source of information (let’s face
Where there’s a Will
I’ve made a Will. I know! This is possibly the most adult thing I’ve done, and therefore is it even me? But the one lesson
It’s only money, honey
It’s been an expensive year so far, and we’re only just three months in. The emergency replacement of the new boiler was a bit of
Motor insurance
Although this is about motorbike insurance companies, the general gist of what I’m saying applies to car insurance companies. Because they all operate on the
Blogathon 29/20: Status update
It is the 29rd 29st 29th of February and that can only mean one thing… It is a Leap Year – the one day that
Blogathon 28/20: Shout it out!
This isn’t going to be either of the blog posts I was mulling over, during last night’s long but unremarkable network changes. It was either
Blogathon 27/20: Up in smoke
We have a log-burner. It’s actually a dual-fuel fire. When it’s in use, it kicks out a lovely bunch of heat that not only fills
Blogathon 26/20: Putting it about
The target is 100,000 words. I’m 25,000 words in at Stage 3 (ready for final proof and external edit). There’s another 10,000 words at Stage
Blogathon 25/20: George Marley?
Every Tuesday evening I have a guitar lesson. When I started, I told Alex (for that is his name) that I was the most rubbish
Blogathon 24/20: Getting neutered
Our girl sprocker is no longer pregnant with phantoms! Yay! This means that she can visit the vet for the little op, and the boy
Blogathon 23/20: Helping hand
Starting Friday this week we will have a cleaner*. We’ve agreed on one two-hour session per week; I hope that’s enough! She’s described herself as
Blogathon 22/20: Just a light trim
I have returned from the barber! I asked for a light trim and a beard tidy. While this was underway, I zoned out a little
Blogathon 21/20: Confession is good for the…?
There’s a Twitter account called @Fesshole that I’m slightly addicted to. The principle is people make anonymous confessions, and these confessions then get reposted to
Blogathon 20/20: Bowling (but not for soup)
As in Ten Pin. I have a day off! As it is half term we decided that I would take a day’s leave and we
Blogathon 19/20: Road (not) work(ing)
With the news today that Nottingham’s Clifton Bridge is going to continue being out of action until (and I quote) ‘the end of the millennium
Blogathon 18/20: Recruitment consultants need help
I had a call from a recruitment consultant this morning. Now then, contrary to popular belief, I’m not the kind of guy who loads up
Blogathon 17/20: No, it’s my BBC
Because I do like to appear as if I am both an irascible old git yet, in complete contradiction, a kind and considerate human being…
Blogathon 16/20: Trapped!
Storm Dave (whatever) together with Nottinghamshire County Council have been conspiring. You see, the lane that runs through it is the only road into/out of
Blogathon 15/20: What’s in a name?
After Storm Ciabatta (whatever) a few days ago, I find that today we are deep into Storm Dave (whatever). I quite like the alphabetical storm-naming
Blogathon 14/20: VD
Today is one of those very special days. If it wasn’t for days like this the entire greeting card and florist industry would collapse Yes,
Blogathon 13/20: Sex Education
Netflix is streaming a multi-season programme called Sex Education. The programme revolves around a magnificently socially awkward high school student and, erm, sex. Not so
Blogathon 12/20: Pregnant bitches and the mutt’s nuts
Robyn has had her first ‘season’ (bless). Apart from this being an indicator that our little girl is growing up, it was also a sign
Blogathon 11/20: Not my BBC
The television world has changed so much in just my lifetime. We’ve gone from two black and white TV stations on 405 lines, that began
Blogathon 10/20: It’s a proper form of transport!
This weekend, for the second Saturday in succession I took the Ninja out for a little trundle. Saturday’s effort was a trip to a former
Blogathon 10/20: Not getting to work (or home again)
The city of Nottingham has the River Trent (plus a couple of carnals canals) running through it. It’s no Venice, but the Trent is very
Blogathon 09/20: A hell of a blowjob!
Storm Ciabatta (whatever) is in full effect although I only know this because I took my earbuds out and looked through the patio doors. When
Blogathon 08/20: An old boiler
One Wednesday evening, a few weeks ago, our hot water decided to buck the trend and do cold. And only cold. Round about the same
Blogathon 07/20: Bad doggy parents
Dog-ownership is a lot like parenting. No, it is, really! Dogs need to be taught what is acceptable and not acceptable behaviour, just like children.
Blogathon 06/20: A true doggy story
On Sunday afternoon I took these two herberts out for a round-village trundle. There’s a field with a public footbath footpath that we haven’t been
Blogathon 05/20: Radio waving
The world of radio communications has changed a great deal since I last dabbled in it. The heavily modified, rack-mounted Racal RA1772s that I played