Waffle and Whinge

Off to Brands Hatch - again.

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:09:48 GMT

Just a quick entry today as I’m off to Brands Hatch in a little while. Hopefully, I’ll have some better luck with my pics than last time. Mind you, we’re expecting thunderstorms today so there’s always the chance the camera won’t see the light of day. Lewis Hamilton will be there today with his F1 racing car. I can’t wait to hear that going round the track.

Oh, I almost forgot to let you know what that picture was in my previous entry.

Well done to all those who knew it was a loud speaker.

Thanks for all the encouragement regarding my knee replacement. I’ve spoken to several people who’ve had the op and I’m quietly optimistic although I still flinch openly when I think of them ‘banging around’ down there. I’ve got a pre-assessment on September 8th so the operation shouldn’t be too long after that.

Last Sunday I ventured out to Constable Country once more and, this time, I managed to find Flatford Mill. Just like most tourist attractions you come across in this country, it was covered in scaffolding. Never mind, it was a nice couple of hours in the bright morning sun and an enjoyable stroll along the river.

I’ll leave you with some pics and then I’m off to for some brekkie. The last pic is something I made whilst playing around in Phtoshop. All the rest are fairly unedited save for the frames.

Cheerie-bye. x

Fly by night.

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:43:50 GMT

Seeing as how some of you enquired I thought I’d tell you about my out of body experiences. But before I do I’d like to point out, before you get to thinking I’ve fallen out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down, that I don’t know what these occurrences are. I don’t claim they are anything mystical or spiritual, although that would be my hope. But for all I know they are simply very lucid dreams and nothing more. Maybe they’re the product of an overactive imagination, a mere flight of fancy, an escape of the David Lynch variety. Whatever else they are though, they’ve been a constant source of fascination to me for a lot of years.

So, have you ever woken up and not been able to move? That used to happen to me quite often. I’d be lying in bed, swimming in the haze between sleep and wakefulness, aware that I’m lying in bed, yet unable to wake up. It was a little freaky and I had to physically force myself to move an arm or my head to jerk myself awake. Usually with a yell that scared the bejeezus out of Reet who, until then, had either been sleeping soundly herself, or partaking of a little word-searching in her puzzle book before slipping into the land of nod.

Well, one day I was talking to my brother, Derry, ‘who knows about these things’ and he suggested that the next time it happened I should relax and see what comes next. “After all,” he reasoned, “you know you’re in bed so you’re quite safe”. That made sense and so the next time it happened that’s what I did. I fought back the panic and tried to relax. I felt it in my fingers and toes first, a gentle tingling that grew and grew until my whole body was vibrating violently. I was aware of Reet lying beside me and couldn’t understand why she couldn’t feel it too. The vibrations became so strong and fast that they were more like a loud buzzing. (I’ve come to call this state fizzing, for want of a better word). I was sure she would soon notice and give me a hefty nudge, assuming I was having some mad dream. But she was totally unaware of it all. As I lay there for a while, fizzing away, my head became muzzy, a strange sensation that was almost painful but not quite, and then I felt myself lift up. It was only an instant and then I realised that I was actually still lying in bed and I suddenly ‘fell’ back down into my body. That’s the best way I can explain it.

Another conversation with my brother introduced me to the concept of astral travel, which, for those who don’t know, is just a pretentious phrase for out of body experiences. Apparently there’s this whole philosophy about several planes of existence and the astral plane is just one level, which we all can visit when we sleep. I wasn’t at all convinced but I must admit the idea intrigued me. I read a few books on the subject and, at night, I began trying to bring it on deliberately. The results were haphazard to say the least. I usually attempted it when I was laying down to go to sleep and, mostly, I did just that, but occasionally, it worked.

These days it sometimes happens even when I’m not trying. I’ll settle down to sleep and just as I’m sinking into that cosy state the fizzing will begin. I can recognise it immediately these days. I don’t panic anymore, I actually get excited. This can be a problem though as when I try too hard I end up not going anywhere. I’ll just feel myself lifting out of my physical body, push a little too hard and WHAM! I’m back where I started. When it does work though, it’s great. I’ve learned to take it slowly when I feel it coming on. I read somewhere that the astral body is almost weightless and so you move that much faster when you’re on the astral plane. Which explains why, on my early attempts, I would fly off at incredible speeds with the wind buffeting my face so hard I could barely breathe. Needless to say that on these occasions I would usually panic and wind up back in my physical body a bit quick smart.

Since those early days I’ve had many of these experiences. At first I would simply try to see myself lying in bed or I’d try to float over to Reet and give her a nudge. (She never noticed.) Then my brother suggested I try other things: Ask to be taken to a place of knowledge; a place of learning or a place of healing. He also mentioned going to the White Dome – whatever that is! Well, I’ve tried all these with curious and sometimes scary results. The first time I asked to be taken to the white dome I immediately felt hands grip my arms and whisk me away. I then found myself in a room with two other people. One of them was waving some papers at me and said something to the effect that I had made a contract and should abide by it. He seemed quite serious and it scared me a little so, rather than wait to find out what I’d gotten myself into, I got the Hell out of there.

Another time, when I’d asked to be taken to a place of knowledge, I met someonewho might have been my spirit guide. His name was Dean. Typical, everyone else has an ancient Chinese wise man or Native American medicine man. Not me, I get a bloke named Dean! Another time when I asked to be taken to a place of learning I found myself in what seemed like a classroom. Again I had someone with me who seemed to be a guide. This one’s name was Mickey, I believe. He waved his hands about my aura and sent me to sleep. As I fell asleep in the astral, I woke up in my bed.

I once went to visit Derry. (We have this plan that we’ll meet up on the astral plane and I’ll give him a message which he will then repeat to me the next day when we’re both fully awake.) Well, I met him and even interacted with him. Before I left him I gave him my message, repeating it to be sure he understood, then I returned to my body. I was sure he’d call me the next day and tell me what the message was. But, alas, he knew nothing of my nocturnal visit.

I’m writing quite matter of factly about all this, I realise that. But that’s because it’s happened quite a lot over the years and I’ve gotten used to it now. I keep a somewhat intermittent dream diary and have recorded many such jaunts. It isn’t an every day occurrence by any means, maybe once every month or two if I’m lucky, and I’m not disciplined enough to bring them on myself at will. But I enjoy them when they do happen and try to get some kind of worthwhile experience from them. That said, I have to admit that they always as surreal as any dream I’ve had and, as I said at the beginning, they may well be just that, very lucid dreams.

I’ve never had any problems returning to my physical body when I wanted/needed to. There’s one thing definite plus to having one of these jaunts. I always, without fail, wake up the next morning feeling as though I’ve had the best sleep of my life. It’s worth trying just to experience that!

I don’t know what else to tell you really, other than relating more of my jaunts. But if you have any questions I’ll try to answer them. Just remember, I’m no expert on this stuff, I just zip about the astral plane from time to time having fun. There are squillions of websites out there dedicated to this stuff and I’m sure they’ll have more of an insight into it than me.

If you want a book on the subject I can recommend (Journeys Out Body by Robert Monroe). It’s totally unbiased and has no ulterior motives tucked away that I’m aware of. The author simply made a record of his experiences and managed to study the phenomena in depth. There are a further two books by the same author and there’s also a website The Monroe Institute which, I believe, is run by the author’s family.

So there you have it.

Sweet dreams. x

News and views.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:44:25 GMT

Yippee! I’ve finally finished putting the family magazine to bed. It should arrive at my sister’s house tomorrow where she will photocopy it all many times and send it all back to me. Then I’ll staple the pages together and send a copy to all of my family members. We have a readership of around twenty or so. It’s dwindled slightly due to a couple of family deaths in the last year or so. But still, twenty is better than no readers at all.

Reet passed her computer exam for the CLAIT course. (She was the only one who was surprised.) She hasn’t managed to find work yet, but that’s because she’s not well. Arthritis troubles and ‘the change’ amongst other things! (The person who said men don’t suffer with menopause must have been a single man, that’s all I can say! Honestly, I think I preferred the PMT. ) On top of that the doc has decided she’s depressed and has labelled her ‘unfit for work’ for six months. So now she’s popping HRT pills, anti-depressants and pain killers. What with all my painkillers and blood pressure tablets, our medicine cupboard is full to bursting and yelling for painkillers itself!

I went back to my consultant last week about my knee(s). The recent steroid injection was no better than the last. He suggested physiotherapy. I said I’d tried it and it didn’t help Then he suggested another operation (arthroscopy). I told him the last two didn’t make any difference. Finally, we got to the subject of a replacement knee. Up until now I’d always said I wanted to wait until I retire before I take that route but, to be honest, after more than twenty years of just putting up with the pain, I’ve decided enough is enough. And, as Reet suggested, surely it would be better for me to have a new knee now while I’m still mobile enough to appreciate it. Who knows, by the time I’m sixty I might have other health problems and they tell me they can’t do the op because I won’t survive the anaesthetic. She has a point. So, after a little hesitation from the quack, we finally convinced him that was the way to go.

Now that it’s decided though, I confess I’m more than a little nervous about it. Funny thing though. A bloke phoned work yesterday to have a package redelivered. He said he couldn’t get to Romford because he was eighty and had just had new knees When I told him we were much nearer than Romford he opted to get the bus and come and collect his package. When he arrived I questioned him about his new knees. His response – ‘Go for it, you won’t regret it.’ And, I must say for a man of eighty recovering from major surgery, he looked pretty sprightly to me. He did say one thing that worried me. He told me that because he had asthma they had to operate with a local anaesthetic. ‘It was okay though,’ he said, ‘I could feel them banging around down there, but I couldn’t feel any pain!’

Banging around!! Sod that, they can knock me right out if they have to do it with a mallet.

This could all be happening very soon, two months at most. Which means I’ll be off work over Christmas – again! The trouble is, because I’ve had so much time off this last twelve months, I’ll go down to half pay after the first month. I’m really not sure the funds can take that but what the hell.My health comes first. If we have to live on credit for the rest of our lives then so be it. I’m quite happy to die owing thousands.

A couple of Sundays ago I went to Southend to get some photos. My friend, Craig joined me for the early morning drive and at 4.30am we strolled around in the damp morning hoping for a nice sunrise over the sea. Alas, due to the rain clouds the sun didn’t make much of an appearance. Nevertheless, I took a few night/morning shots. Unfortunately, my inherent shyness convinced me to leave my tripod in the car and rely on any nearby sturdy object to rest my camera on for the long exposures. Even this might have been okay had I remembered to turn off the built in anti-shake system but I forgot. As a result the photos were disappointing. Most of them looked okay on the camera view screen but enlarged onto my pc monitor the shake was quite evident. Here’s a couple that just, barely, made the grade.

Eventually the weather got the better of us and by 6am we’d had enough. We headed back home, detouring to our usual Sunday morning café for a full English on the way. We’re making plans for another early morning jaunt in the near future, and this time I WILL use my tripod.

One last picture for you to ponder over and then I’ll make my way up the wooden hill. I wonder if you’ll guess what it is.

Toodle-pip. x

Another catch-up.

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:14:25 GMT

Well, as suspected, Reet’s been dominating my evening computer time as she’s been learning all about sending emails and surfing the web. Thankfully, this will be her last week at college as they’re stopping the course she’s been on. So later tonight she’ll be kicking me off the keyboard yet again as she crams for her last exam. On Wednesday she’ll have the test. As usual, I’m quite confident she’ll do okay, as are her tutors at the college, but Reet is all doom and gloom. Oh well, I guess we’ll know one way or the other by this time next week. It remains to be seen whether all this effort helps her to find some work or not.

I’ve been struggling to get my family magazine finished this time around. What with the earlier problems with my pc and now my scanner is misbehaving. The software that came with the scanner keeps telling me there’s a problem and it must close. The only explanation it gives is a bunch of codes that I have no understanding of. Yesterday I managed to scan the three images I needed by an alternative route so I can move on with the mag now, thankfully. Still, it’s puzzling me what the problem might be. These things eat away at me and I usually end up dabbling in computereze that I know very little about. Sometimes this achieves the right result and other times I cock it all up completely. So I’ve decided to hold fire on any fiddling until I’ve finished the mag and Reet’s finished her course.

This week I renewed my membership to the local library. (I had my card stolen some time ago, along with a bunch of bank and credit cards.) I was amazed at how much things had changed. The last time I went I was allowed a maximum of three books and one video/dvd. Now, I’m allowed up to twenty five books at any one time! Since I can only borrow them for three weeks at a time I’d be hard pushed to get through half that amount. Still, I had a quick browse and came away with seven, just to keep me going. That’s not the only thing that’s changed. The penalty for overdue books has gone from 4p to 17p per day and, given my habit of forgetting to renew, that could soon cost me a small fortune if I’m not careful. Luckily, another change to the system means I’ll be able to renew online so maybe that’ll help. The books? Well, I borrowed four on digital photo editing. One on Outlook Express (for Reet), A Stephen Donaldson sequel from the Thomas Covenant saga and, on a whim, the autobiography of Rolf Harris. I started on Rolf first since the Donaldson epic is a little heavy going and I’m not getting time to edit photos. So far it’s an enjoyable read with Rolf being just as amiable, gentlemanly and entertaining in print as he is on TV.

A week or so back I was asked to run off a few pictures of my niece all dressed up for her prom night. I ended up taking around thirty photos. My ratio for good shots over bad has improved tenfold since getting my new camera. I’m sure that’s mainly due to the anti-camera shake feature that’s built in. In the old days with my film camera that was my biggest downfall. And yet, even though I knew that, I hardly ever took my tripod with me. That’s because I always felt a little self conscious of it, thinking it made me seem like a pretentious poser. I still feel that way now but I intend to get over it during this rekindling of the hobby.

I’ve sorted the problem of using my old lenses on my new camera too. That was thanks to a great little book I bought. It’s called ‘The Magic Lantern Guide’ By Joe Farace. These are a series of guide books written for specific cameras. Within five minutes of reading it I had solved the problem of my lenses so it was well worth the fifteen quid I paid for it. It’s far more in depth than the basic manual that came with the camera and I can recommend it to anybody who wants to learn more about their own camera.

Last Saturday we went to an eightieth birthday party. A close friend of mine invited us to celebrate with them as we’ve known all the family for many years. And, of course, I was nominated to take a bunch of family photos. I would have preferred to have taken them outside as I prefer the natural daylight. Unfortunately, the garden was small and crowded with chairs, tables and people so we cleared the sofa in the living room and lined up each respective family group for an indoor shot. Despitethe limited space and the flash lighting the results were okay.

There’s little point naming these people since you don’t know them but, Anne is my soul mate and closest friend. She’s the one on the left. Regis the birthday boy on the right, holding the little girl.

Then, on Sunday just gone, I had another chance to play with my camera when I went with my friend Andy to Brands Hatch to watch the World Superbike Championships. The trouble was, the weather wasn’t so good and so the races were delayed, stopped and re-run for the best part of the day. I think we managed to see just four races by the time we’d had enough and decided to come home. I did attempt to take some bike shots using the panning technique but, sadly, I wasn’t very good at it. What can I say – those bikes don’t half shift! I did manage to get one or two blurred pics amongst the many shots of half-bikes and empty track. But never mind though, it was good fun trying. I’ll just have to practice my technique a little more for next time.

I’m sure Andy would know all the technical spec of this beast but all I can tell you is that, apparently, it’s really, really fast.

And, of course, it wasn't all chic cars and blurred bikes. There was also the eye candy:

We got a glimpse into the glamorous life of a racing cameraman and, as an added bonus the Red Devils dropped in, literally:

Next Sunday I’m getting up very early and taking a drive to Southend on Sea, which is about forty minutes drive away. I’m hoping to catch a few sunrise shots. I have my mate Craig coming along this time so we’ll no doubt stick around for breakfast while we’re there. I’m enjoying any opportunity to use my camera at the moment so I’m really looking forward to Sunday.

And that’s me, all caught up once more. Hopefully, once my family mag is put to bed I’ll manage to write more often, but don’t hold me to that one. Lately, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing my memoirs. I started this project some years ago and managed thirty two pages before I somehow drifted away from it. Maybe it’s time for another go. It’s so easy to think about these things and never get around to them. I like to kid myself that when I retire I’m suddenly going to develop some kind of self discipline and spend a set number of hours per day, or week, banging away at the keyboard like it was a real job. In reality though I’m a bit of a hit and miss kind of writer and I doubt I’ll ever get organised enough to do that.

Okay, that’s enough from me for tonight. I’ll leave you with an image I grabbed when Reet spotted a rainbow just outside our front door.

Cheerie-bye. x (What's going on with the fonts in here tonight?)

Saturday cricket and Sunday photos.

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:30:42 GMT

Finally, some time to write an entry. I’ve been very busy lately, trying to finish the latest edition of my family magazine. I’m almost there now, just a page or two more to edit and I’m done. As well as the mag, I’ve had Reet, as predicted, clamouring for computer time on my pc so she can practice writing emails etc for her college course. I wouldn’t mind but she makes me sit next to her and help. Not that I don’t want to, you understand, it’s just that she’s using MS Outlook for all her emailing needs. I’ve never bothered with that as I’ve always found it to be too fiddly and not particularly user friendly. Also, in the old days the spam was unstoppable, along with the viruses some of them carried. I imagine it must have improved a little by now but I still prefer to use AOL. For all its faults and idiosyncrasies its email facility is more easily accessible and far less complicated to use. Consequentially then, I’m not as helpful to her as she thought I’d be. It’s painful to watch sometimes as she clicks her way around the screen, going the long way around all the time. Instead of double clicking or right-clicking she highlights and goes to the main drop down menus to look for commands. When I advise her to use the faster methods she won’t do it as it’s not the way she’s been taught. Oh well, I can only hope she gets though this part of the course quickly, then I’ll convert her to AOL emailing and we can leave MS Outlook in a dark and dusty corner of my hard drive where it can dissolve into the ether in its own sweet time.

My last entry ended with me going off to take some photos of the guys from work playing cricket. Sadly, due to the bad weather we’d had all that week,many of them didn’t show up, despite reassurances that very morning that they would be there. Not very nice I guess but that’s people for you. Still, there were six of us, and one of us had brought along a few friends to join in. Then we recruited the skills of two young lads and their grandad who were taking a stroll in the park as we set up. We couldn’t get a proper game going as there were too few of us but we had a little knock around for an hour or three. As it turned out, the weather stayed warm and dry until just after we’d finished so it turned out to be a quite enjoyable afternoon, which finished in the pub, of course. I didn’t take any photos at all in the end as I was too busy joining in to make up the numbers. I did a little bowling and fielding although I couldn’t throw myself into the task as much as I’d have liked since I was too worried that my knee would give out. It didn’t, but it sure ached a lot more for a few days afterwards.

The Sunday after the cricket I found myself awake at 4AM and instead of ensconcing myself at my computer as I usually do I decided to grab my camera and try to capture a sunrise. I drove to a nearby country park and was surprised to find the gates locked. They never used to lock them up at all. And the car park was now pay and display where it used to be free. Since I couldn’t get in it was of no consequence. I was a little worried about leaving the car unattended in the middle of the countryside but I figured there wouldn’t be too many people about at that time of day so I risked it. I parked up by the gates, crossed the car park and strolled down the gravel path to the lake. I was lucky, I timed it just right as the sun was just coming up. There was a light mist rolling across the field and settling eerily across the lake. I stayed for half an hour or so taking photos till the sun was fully risen then made my way back.

When I got home, I just had time to download the pics to my computer before going to brekkie with the lads from work. Then, after breakfast I had time for a doze on the sofa before Reet got up. An enjoyable start to a glorious day.

Cheerie-bye. x

S'only me.

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:39:30 GMT

I’m back again. My pc is now running smoothly and quietly. It had to be returned for another medical check when I kept getting an error message telling me my cpu fan wasn’t working. (It was.) There was a scary moment when I thought I might need a new motherboard but Tony, the guy who repaired it, managed to sort it out and save me the expense. Fingers crossed that it stays okay this time.

Reet passed her exam, as I knew she would. She’s now onto the next stage which is online communication. Zoiks! There goes my peace and quiet, not to mention my computer time as she’ll soon be evicting me so she can practice. Seems to me we’ll have to get her pc networked up and internet ready VERY soon.

So far the injection in my knee seems to be doing the job. But I thought that the last time and it was back to being a pain within a fortnight. I had most of this week off to rest it – doctors orders. But I went back a day early as they were short staffed. Normally I wouldn’t be so conscientious but, to be honest, I was going a little stir crazy stuck at home. I didn’t have my pc and Rita had the car so all I did all day was to watch tv, read a book (Spike Milligans war memoirs – again), or doze. I got that bored I bought a crossword book, something I haven’t done for years.

Now that I’ve got my computer back I can complete the latest edition of the family magazine. Remember the ‘26 things’ meme I did a few entries ago? Well, I put that in the last edition and everybody must have enjoyed it because I’ve had no less than six other family members send in theirs for entry into this next issue.

Yesterday evening was spent catching up with my journal reading. I have to keep up with that or else I get snowed under with alerts and I don’t want to get to the point where I have to delete them all and start again. This entry is being written just before I go to work. I can’t seem to get back to sleep once I’ve woken up so I find I’m better off getting up and early and doing some writing whilst it’s quiet. I usually have a kip when I’ve finished work so I catch up with my sleep then.

Last Saturday’s barbie went well. The rain held off, which was something of a miracle in itself. It was good to catch up with some of our friends as we’ve been very unsociable these last few months and not seen anybody. What with all the decorating we were doing and all the hospital visits and time off due to my knee ops, we were quickly losing touch with them all. Hopefully, we can now get back to some kind of normality there.

This Saturday, weather permitting, the guys from work are having a cricketing day at a local park. I’ll be going along with my camera so I hope to get a few good shots. And, talking of pictures, I’ve included a few above. There are a couple of our newly decorated living room, since some of you expressed an interest, and there are a couple more from last weekends barbecue.

Oops, look at the time. My lift will be arriving shortly so I’ll have to upload this entry later today.

Cheerie – bye. x

<> Friday evening: Finally, after three failed attempts, AOL has decided to let me upload this entry. Hope it was worth it. x

Catch up.

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:54:00 GMT

I’m back. I must admit I was getting a little twitchy there for a while. A week without my computer was almost as bad as running out of brandy! I came back to more than two hundred emails although they were shared between three of my screen names. Still, it took me awhile to get through them I can tell you. The pc is running much sweeter now although it still isn’t perfect and may have to go back to the doc for a little more tweaking. Twice it’s failed to boot up at the first attempt and I think one of my fans is struggling. But it will have to wait. Tomorrow I’m off for another injection in my knee followed by a few days off work so I’ll need it here.

Remember the customer who didn’t like me to say ‘there you go’ when I handed her mail over? Well, she’s been back. I was very polite and made a point of not saying the dreaded words. But when I handed her mail over she accused me of saying it again. Now, on the last two occasions I had been very professional and polite but this time I’d had enough. Especially as I hadn’t said it at all. We had a few words and I ended by telling her I wouldn’t serve her again. She was just about to leave when Phil, the union rep, pipes in. Before long there’s a full blown argument going on. The woman threw something on the floor in temper and Phil asked her politely, but firmly, to leave the building as she was becoming abusive. She refused.

PHIL: “If you don’t leave I’ll have to call the police and have you removed.”

CUSTOMER: “Call the police, I’ll tell them you are being rude and abusive to your customers.”

PHIL: “Mr North, [that’s me] will you call the police please?”

ME: “You’re not serious!?”

PHIL: “CALL THE POLICE!”

ME: “You can’t dial 999 for something like this!”

At which point Phil called the police. It was all so stupid. The woman was just about to bugger off when he butted in. It took them twenty minutes to arrive, during which time Phil had had the cheek/decency to take her a cup of tea while she was waiting. Eventually, after more shouting on her part and some cajoling from the boys in blue, it’s settled. We will allow her back in again but if we have one more incident like this she will be barred from entering the office.

“That’s alright” she said, “I’ll call the police and they can collect my mail.”

“Yes, just give us a call next time.” The copper tells her, trying to hide the smirk on his face, and then they escorted her off the premesis.

What a palaver! And it was all so unnecessary. To be honest, I was embarrassed by all the fuss. It’s quite obvious the woman’s not playing with a full deck and to call the police was just irritating the situation. But Phil was in playful mood and thoroughly enjoying himself. I guess it brought a little excitement to an otherwise dull day. It changes nothing though. When she comes in again I’ll refuse to serve her. I’ll go get the boss and he can deal with her. Wouldn’t it be funny if, when he hands over the mail, he says “There you go madam”.

Reet failed her exam. It was a really silly mistake but, unfortunately, an important one. No worries though, she’s already taken it again and is awaiting the results. They should come through sometime next week. She’s been under the weather this past week and I don’t suppose that’s helped her concentration. She has some pain in her arm and shoulder which is probably due to her arthritis. It’s been quite bad and she’s on all manner of pills from the doctor. What a pair we make.

Friday is brother John’s birthday. He’ll be 55. More importantly, he’s having a barbecue to celebrate so we’re off for food and drinks on Saturday. Should be a fun night, especially since I have to provide the music. That suits me as it means I get to hear all my favourite sounds.

The early retirement edged a little closer this week. A letter has been sent to all the over 55s to see who is interested. If they don’t get enough takers in that age bracket they’ll ask the 54s and under. And that’s me! Fingers crossed on that one. Of course, this being Royal Mail, they’ll probably change their minds again by next week.

And that’s me all caught up I believe. I just have time to answer a couple of emails and then I’m off up the wooden hill.

Tata. x

A newsy little ramble.

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:39:35 GMT

Three days and three entries! What’s got into me lately? Well, truth be told I have no reason to write tonight other than the fact that my computer is going to the docs tomorrow for a little TLC and I don’t know how long it will be gone for. I must be sure to check the visiting times.

My pc has developed a strange problem. Every time I load a cd into the drive it reboots itself. I’ve spoken to the pc doc about it and he’s suggesting I might need a new rewriter. I don’t know what the cost of one of those is these days but I suppose if it’s needed then I’ll just have to dig into my pockets and pay for it. Might as well upgrade the RAM while I’m at it. No need to tell Reet that though. ;O)

Reet took her exam today and, as usual, fears the worst. I’ve learned to ignore her pessimism these days and I’m fairly confident she’ll get through. The next stage is online communications so I can see some problems arising from that. Her computer doesn’t have internet access and she sure as hell ain’t gonna push me off mine.

Last Sunday’s brekkie was indeed a fry-up. We’re getting quite a little crowd of us there now.Last week there were seven of us. If we recruit any more I think we should qualify for a discount.

Thanks for all the congratulations for our anniversary. Seems thirty years isn’t such a milestone though. Bunny (Sorry, can’t find a link) and hubby have clocked up a whacking fifty years and Andy will be hitting the thirty two mark this Wednesday. I don’t know whether to offer congratulations or commiserations.

What else is there to relate? Well, Friday week I’ll be going back for another injection in my knee. Hopefully, this will stop the pain. If not, I think I’ll just give up with the pain killers completely, they’re next to useless most of the time. The brandy works best but it doesn’t last long so I have to keep topping up. ;O)

At work, I’ve now officially signed into the office duty that I’ve been covering for the last few months. There’s not much chance of me getting back to my driving duty now. But I’m getting to quite enjoy myself in this new role which is a good thing I guess since I’ll probably be doing it till I retire. The jury is still out on when that might happen. Early retirement is still hovering tantalisingly close but ever elusive. If I don’t get that I’ll be working for another seven years, till I’m sixty. Or, if Royal Mail has its evil way, until I’m sixty five! Now that doesn’t even bear thinking about!

The guys at work are planning a cricket day for July 12th and they’ve asked me to take a few pics. I might as well seeing as I won’t be able to play. If the weather’s good it should be a real fun day. Another guy I work with (Les) has asked me to take some photos of him on his mountain bike. It could be interesting as there will be a lot of bikers there throwing themselves and their bikes over logs and off of huge wooden platforms. Les has broken at least three bones in the last two years so that should give you some indication of how stupid, crazy, dangerous this sport can be. Still, it’s a good photo opportunity so I might tag along one weekend.

Okay, I’m all talked out for tonight. It’s time to disconnect this hunk of electrics ready for it’s surgery tomorrow. Wish it luck. And me. I mean, what am I going to do whilst it’s gone? I can’t talk to Reet, I did that yesterday. Maybe a trip to the bookstore will pass some time since I’m right out of reading material at the moment. I’ve had to rummage through my book shelf and re-read an old favourite - Spike Milligan’s war memoirs. It’s a great read but not something you can get your teeth into. I like a good thick epic of a book for that, preferably of the sci-fi/fantasy genre.

But enough, let’s get this thing to pieces. Now, where’s that crowbar…?

Cheerie– bye. x

Wedding anniversary.

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:51:25 GMT

I thought I’d better write an entry today if only to mention the fact that it’s our wedding anniversary. Twenty nine years for goodness sake. Where has the time gone? And, more to the point, when does the license expire? I have no idea how we’ve survived so long together. We’ve certainly had some rocky times but I guess the fact that we’re still hanging in there must mean something.

We’ve never really celebrated our anniversaries, except our 25th when we treated ourselves to a holiday in a five star hotel overlooking Lake Maggiore in Italy. (And if you’ve never been I can thoroughly recommend it.) We had intended to go for a meal tonight but Reet has her exam tomorrow and wanted to get in some practice on the computer, so we stayed in and had Chinese. A friend of mine gave me some tickets (two meals for the price of one) at a plush Italian restaurant, just a short drive away, but you have to book weeks in advance to get a table. So we thought we’d save it for now and maybe share the evening with our friends Andy and Liz.

I remember our wedding quite well. I know we paid a little over a grand for the whole shebang. Doesn’t sound much now but back in ’79 it was a fortune. We hired a huge hall and my brother in law’s band played in the evening, interspersed with a disco. Reet’s aunt made the wedding cake, a three tier extravaganza that tasted as beautiful as it looked. I also remember I was much skinnier back then. I had a twenty eight inch waste – and thirty inch flairs on my suit trousers!

The honeymoon was spent on the Isle of Wight. We got lost going through London on the outward journey and had to be guided through by a policeman who took us all round the back streets at a squillion miles an hour. Reet was panicking that once they’d got us to the other side of London they’d stop and nick us for speeding. The most memorable thing about the honeymoon was the horse riding. Reet enjoyed the experience as she hadn’t ridden since her early schooldays. Me? That was my first time and most definitely my last. As experiences go I think I’d sooner stick pins in my eyes.

On the way home the car broke down and we had to join the AA right there and then to get them to fix it. They had trouble finding the parts though and by the time they got it sorted we had no less than five AA men from all over the Guildford area working on the car. They did us proud though and we got home safely, if a little later than expected.

Our first fifteen years of marriage were spent in a high rise flat where we never really settled. The flat itself was huge and we really liked it. I even had a darkroom set up in one of the cupboards, that’s how big it was. But the area wasn’t so great and it wasn’t a place we ever thought of as home. Although we had very little money, we always felt that something would turn up and we wouldn’t live there forever. We went to the pub most nights and had parties frequently but we never decorated after that first time when we first moved in. It just didn’t seem permanent, even after fourteen of those years.

Our escape came in the form of a council scheme that allowed tenants to part rent and part buy a house. We decided to go for it but when we went for a financial check we discovered that house prices had dropped so much that, with a few hours a week overtime on my part, we could actually afford to buy on the open market. And that’s how we came to buy the place we’re living in now.

We moved here in ’94 and have never looked back. I knew when I first viewed the place that I wanted it and we were lucky enough that the lady who was selling it liked us enough to wait for us to sort the finances. Fourteen years on and we still love the place. It’s probably the only reason we’re still together. None of us is prepared to give it up. ;O}

I had hoped to add a wedding photo to this entry but it turns out I don’t have one on my computer. Guess I’ll have to scan some in a bit sharpish. Or maybe I’ll leave it till our thirtieth next year.

Right, time for bed methinks.

Tata. x

Reet and other news.

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:04:44 GMT

The good news is that Reet passed her tests that she took a week or s ago. The bad news is that she still didn’t make it through to the interview stage. We’re not sure why that is but what can you do? The job she applied for was within the Dept for Work and Pensions. It’s what used to be the DSS, I think. The good news about passing the tests is that if she applies for any other job within the council, she doesn’t have to resit them. Hopefully, that will help with future job offers.

In the meantime she’s still taking her computer classes. She’s now bringing it home with her and sits opposite me when I’m at my pc. Sounds very cosy doesn’t it? Well believe me, it’s not. I can’t get anything done on my own machine, whether it be catching up on my journal reading/writing or putting my family magazine together. Every minute, and I do mean EVERY minute, she’s asking me how to do this, or how to undo that..! Other times she switches on her computer just as I’m switching mine off for the night. Then it’s even worse as I’m having to keep climbing out of bed to come and help her. I wouldn’t mind so much but I know she can do this stuff. She’s been doing it at college for months now with hardly any help at all. I guess I’m just too available.

I do recall just how much I struggled with the basics when I first started though. It took me ages to master the art of copying or cutting and pasting. I simply couldn’t figure out how to find the object after I’d cut it. My brother Derry managed to drum home the fact that it wasn’t actually anywhere UNTIL you pasted it. But Derry is a much better teacher than me. I do try to be patient with Reet but I’m just not very good at it.

The stuff she’s learning is called CLAIT. I still can’t recall what that stands for but it involves Word files and formatting, spreadsheets and graphs etc. She knows more about headers, footers and indents than I’ll ever need. She’s also learning a lot of the keyboard shortcuts which is a good thing. I’m too lazy and rely on my mouse. Spreadsheets are a thing I’ve never really got to grips with in any depth so maybe she’ll be teaching me a thing or too in the very near future.

On Friday she had a tutorial which is like a mock exam which she coped well with and next Tuesday she takes the exam proper. She’ll do fine so long as her nerves don’t fry her brain first. I’m quietly confident. She’s already passed the first stage and has a certificate to prove it. And she’s passed her literacy tests too which will result in another certificate. See, she’s not anywhere as near as daft as she thinks she is and the only reason she bothers me so much with her pc lessons is because I’m there. If I wasn’t she’d figure it all out by herself, I’m sure. Still, the more she uses it the sooner it will all sink in and stay. Then, I hope to teach her about desktop publishing so she can help me sort out my family magazine (see, I’m not daft either).

Things at work are bubbling away once more. We have a lot of building work going on all around our office and rumours are rife: early retirement is back on the cards; they're going to make the walks one and a half hours longer than they already are; the office will be closed and we’ll all me moved to our main office in Romford … and on, and on.

Actually, that last one is very possible. The rumour has raised its head regularly for the last twenty years but never came to fruition. This time though, there’s a great deal of building going on around us and it’s quite likely that Royal Mail could sell our site for a huge profit and move us all out. Where that leaves the public when it comes to collecting their mail and packages is anybody’s guess, but then, quality of service hasn’t been a priority of this company for many years now. Whether these rumours prove true or not, time will tell. It’s a sure fact that big changes are on the way though. Royal Mail have some new super duper machines that will not just sort the mail into walks (delivery areas), but will also sequence the walks too, making them ready for delivery. In effect that means the posties will just have to come in, load a bag and start delivering. Whereas, at present, they start at six and don’t leave the office before nine.

So, in theory: you post your letter, it gets collected and fed into a huge machine that sorts the mail into towns. From there it’s put into another machine that sorts it into walks and then into a third machine that gets it ready for delivery. The postman arrives, packs his bag and off he will go. Simple dimple. (Yeah, right!) Sounds like utopia doesn’t it? But how will the machine know if somebody has moved and had their mail redirected? How will it know if a customer has asked for his mail to be kept at the office for collection? And, of course, it won’t be able to handle anything that’s thicker or larger than A4 size so what happens to all the other stuff? The ebay items? Amazon parcels? The Braille literature? Hell, what happens to anything remotely out-sized?

As you might gather, I have less confidence in this new technology than I have in the management that are steam rolling them into action with little or no forethought to the men on the job and even less consideration to the public they are supposedly serving. Nevertheless, the technology is there and it WILL be in place very shortly whether it works or not. So, if you thought the postal system was bad at the moment, just watch what happens next.

From my own personal point of view, I’m not too concerned about the changes. It looks as though I’ll be working inside now for the rest of my time. I quite enjoy it actually, but it can be a thankless task working with the public. Just the other day a woman came in to collect her mail. As I handed it to her I said quite innocently “there you go.” Well, shave my beard and call me normal if this woman didn’t throw a hissy fit right then and there.

“Don’t you say that to me” she wailed, “I find that very offensive!”

I was a little taken aback but I recovered quickly. Adopting a clipped and official attitude I said “my apologies madam, thank you for your custom.” I wouldn’t always be so polite but, well, it was quite obvious the woman didn’t have both her oars in the water, if you know what I mean, so there was no point retaliating. The trouble is, when she came in again a couple of days later I remembered this, but no matter how much I told myself not to say ‘there you go’, I still managed to say it to her (what can I say, it was force of habit). Oh boy! She was off again, and this time there was a queue!

Ah yes, we sure have fun where I work.

Tata. x

Brekkie with the guys in a while. Yummy.