Sunday 16-05-22 Decluttering Part II

Sunday mornings are normally a good time for reflection, and today is no exception; if anything today is more suited than normal. TW is asleep upstairs in bed, having been put there by me at about 07:45, and we only have one of our daughters at home, although she has had a friend for a sleepover. The other two daughters are at friends' houses having their own sleepovers.
I've got a few auctions on eBay which are ending this morning, so I am hoping for a flurry of last-minute bidding activity. To be honest, any bids received will be gratefully received, even if it seems that it is more hassle than it is worth to pack the items up and get them out of the house. At least that will be fewer things cluttering up the house.
I am currently going through a minimalism course; I say I am going through it, I am reading the weekly emails and reading the Facebook posts. I did actually stumble across a live Q&A on Facebook with the author Josh Becker - his answers were live, but the questions were typed or sent beforehand. What he was saying made sense, and actually got me thinking.
The book he has written is called "The More of Less" and is the first Amazon Kindle book I think I've paid full price for, because this 12-week course is now free, as a benefit of me buying the book.
Anyway, he was talking about accumulating stuff as a result of hobbies or pursuing interests, and he said that when the accumulation of stuff got to the point where it was actually preventing you from enjoying your hobby, that was when it was time to re-evaluate, and maybe take a more minimalist approach.

This is a picture of my comics bookcase. These are all unread comics, and when / if I ever try to read them, I do find my time is taken up trying to organise all the issues in the series, or looking for a missing issue in the piles of unread and random comics, or didn't I have a variant of this issue, with a stunning cover? I wonder if that is worth anything; I know, I'll check eBay... And the next thing I know, I've wasted 40 minutes and I've not read a single comic. I also have several boxes (about 4) containing organised series of comics which I have read. I don't know why I am keeping them, I thought they might be worth something one day, I suppose, but when I look on eBay the grim reality becomes clear - no-one is interested in paying thousands of pounds for my old tat, even if it is boarded and bagged, and carefully handled and as good as new. I can put a read comic on eBay for 99p, but have to charge for postage, and unless the comic is a special issue, you can probably buy it new from a dealer for £2.20 or so, so actually there is no point in me keeping them.
I have occasionally made some money, but only rarely - Nowhere Men springs to mind, and a few weeks ago I sold a twelve-part series for £20, which meant I was only £5 down on the deal, but it's no way to make an income.
So here is the new approach; for limited series, collect all issues, read them, and put them on eBay as a collection. Have them auto-relist one time, and if there are no watchers or huge amounts of viewers during those two weeks, to the bin they go. I'm not planning to add any more to the boxes already filled, and I may even try to empty those boxes. If I can get a hold on this collection, and reduce it, I may turn some of it into cash, even if it is only pennies.
Once all this is gone / under control, the girls had better watch out, because I will probably then try to reduce the number of toys / dolls / games they have lying about, especially what's on the floor of their bedroom...

TTFN.

Thursday 16-05-19 Chairman of the Bored

I pay attention to a lot of what goes on in the Houses of Parliament and the arguments /discussions between Tories and Labour. I'm beginning to get a bit,  I'm not sure, cynical I suppose when they start spinning the news in their favour. Either party, it doesn't really matter,  but each of them like to use events to support their own narrative.
Each of the parties have a go at each other and nip each others' heads, putting each other down about events. Neither party will admit that things look bad for them. I would like one of those speakers or people arguing to say to an interviewer, " I understand why you might see things that way but actually this is the reason why things look like that but they are different."
I cannot abide the fact that David Cameron's new argumentative approach is that his response is "I don't accept that". The problem is that if you don't accept something, or if you can't see why someone sees things in that way, then you cannot argue against the view. The approach which Cameron is following does not allow for constructive dialogue, if he can't appreciate that someone might see it that way, how can he then persuade you round to his view?
An example of that is at prime minister's question time a couple of weeks ago when Tim Fallon asked him to apologize for the campaign against Sadiq Khan who was voted in as Mayor of London. The suggestion is that the campaign against Khan was racist,  or certainly had racist undertones. Rather than apologizing, David Cameron choose to have a go at Tim Fallon instead. This is a measure of the current level of debate. Rather than take the opportunity to apologize and have an open dialogue with his opponents, Cameron choose to attack.
And it is the same when Jeremy Corbyn asks questions to David Cameron at PMQs. Rather than engage with the question and have a constructive dialogue to try to build a common approach, Cameron chooses to score cheap points off Jeremy Corbyn, which is quite an easy thing to do. He comes across as a bit of a bully, and more often than not be doesn't answer the question, which is a shame. PMQs is a perfect opportunity for David Cameron to display his statesmanship but he chooses to descend into playground child-like point scoring and the ensuing experience is not an edifying one.
I stayed up to watch the results of the local elections a couple of weeks ago and the BBC had John McDonnell and Nicky Morgan on as their studio guests to give an immediate reaction to the results as they came in. Even though the polls had closed, Nicky couldn't stop having a go at John, accusing him of pretending to be approaching the results "more in sorrow than in anger" as a front, being all holier than thou. McDonnell had nothing to gain, except respect. The polls had closed and there were no more votes up for grabs. It was not an enjoyable experience and so I switched off.

I was quite interested to see that Robert Peston had a new series on ITV. So I downloaded it and started watching it. His first major guest was George Osborne. Unfortunately, the conversation was not a challenging one and it seemed that, even though they were covering topics which would be hard going for the Chancellor,  they approached it very softly.
It does get to the point I think, sometimes, where journalists and MPs are talking a different kind of language to the rest of us who live outside of Westminster, and are not fully engaged in the events which occur in the Houses of Parliament. Again I switched off, even before he got to interview Louis Theroux, but I'd had enough by then and so moved on to Occupied.
Occupied is another Scandinavian drama, like Borgen or The Bridge or The Killing, but this one is about what might happen if Russia invaded Norway. It's a thriller written by Jo Nesbo, and it's beginning to get more intriguing. I'll probably write more here about how it unfolds, in general terms at least.
TTFN.

Tuesday 16-05-17 Camping (Julia Davis)

So on Tuesday evening we watched the final episodes in Julia Davis' new series for Sky Atlantic, Camping.
The first episodes made for uncomfortable but compelling viewing, with the characters beautifully realised as innately horrible people with a veneer of civilization.
The scene with Tom and Fay in the pub where she goes off with the young locals is hilarious and pathetic at the same time, and an indicator of more to come - Tom's denial of his relationship with Fay to his own children was repellent, and his eventual humiliation was unavoidable but I found it very bleak. The entire decent into chaos and lawless hedonism was shocking and amazing at the same time.
I see people are referring to this as the first series, but I don't see how a second series could possibly rise from the ashes of this tale. All the characters came out of the events changed - some for the better, some not so much. It might be time to revisit Nighty Night...
TTFN.

Monday 16-05-16 Moving Floors - A New Era at Work

So yesterday, the 16th, was our first day on our new floor at work. We've moved from the 3rd to the 2nd, and also changed from having set desks to a "hot desk" environment. This meant we packed up on Friday 13th, which was a bit inauspicious, but to be honest I'd already done most of my drawer-emptying by Wednesday, and on Friday I threw away the last of my stuff.
As part of the new regime, we get a small locker which needs to contain our "hot box", and there is space for a couple of other items - a docking station, a mousemat, a box of tissues, and not much else, to be honest. The desks have to be cleared each night, and then it's a case of sit where you like when you get in to the office the next morning. And the interesting thing is that there are fewer desks than staff, so if you don't get in on time, you don't get a seat. It's like a game of Musical Chairs for grown-ups, but the rounds are played very slowly (once per day) and there is no music. Hmm.
It doesn't make the workforce feel particularly valued, especially when there are enough empty seats (currently) on the floor to easily seat everyone. But then, I guess that is the decision that The Company has taken, and they don't particularly care who comes in and does the work, as long as the work gets done. At least they keep paying me - it could be worse, I could be a struggling artist employed (but not paid) by Sainsbury.
I settled in fairly easily, I found a desk and plugged myself in. There were quite a few leads involved, so I went up to our previous lair and retrieved my docking station. Besides the keyboard and mouse leads, there was the power lead and the display lead, and the ethernet cable too if you want to go wired. So five in total. To unplug and go to meetings without a docking station would be an annoyance, relatively speaking. And that was that for the day, mostly.
At the end of the day, it was a bit annoying to have to put everything away, I must have needed about four trips to get everything in the locker, and then by the time I got out of the office, the next scheduled train was cancelled. That was a bit more annoying, but in the grand scheme of things my little annoyances don't amount to very much. And then I was home. So that was my office moving story, except it wasn't very moving.
TTFN.

Sunday 16-05-15 A Happy Interlude in Burgess Hill

Sunday morning was a relaxing time and gave us a bit of breathing space, as well as time to tidy up and prepare for the day.
In the afternoon we drove to Burgess Hill to catch up with an old friend who used to work with TW. We hadn't seen her for (probably more than) three years but she and TW had kept in touch via Facebook. It was a really nice afternoon, she was on good form and the kids played nicely.
It was a lovely sunny day, relaxing, and it was like we'd only seen her a few weeks earlier - except for the size of her and our children. We arrived for afternoon tea and before we knew it, it was already 6pm, which was a good indication of time enjoyably spent.
TTFN.

Sunday 16-05-15 Decluttering Part I - Girls' Clothes for Sale

So today I have spent a fair amount of time photographing girls' clothes in order to list them on eBay. There are a fair few quality items that my girls have worn and loved, and these still have plenty of life left in them - good old Boden! (for the most part).
If you are at all interested, here is the link.

Saturday 16-05-14 Knockhatch and Eurovision

Earlier in the week (Tuesday, to be precise) The Youngest celebrated her seventh birthday. Yesterday as part of the continued celebrations we took her and two friends (and our other two) to Knockhatch Adventure Park. I've written about Knockhatch before, but again it's an enjoyable day out. It is a nice mix of animal exhibition / zoo and activities. 

The weather wasn't that great to start with, it certainly wasn't as warm as it had been Thursday and Friday, and actually I was a bit worried that we were under-prepared, clothes-wise at least. We didn't have coats or jumpers, but we decided to risk it for a biscuit. We certainly weren't under-prepared on the food front; the bag of food I lugged around must have weighed a stone at least, but then I suppose you can't feed seven hungry mouths on thin air...

We fed the animals, and then hit the Quadapillar barrel ride. Then into the park for free activities, and first up was the Demon Drop Slide. Both Eldest and Youngest conquered their fears, and went down it, the Middle One didn't pluck up courage until later in the day. Our guests didn't try it out. I'm not sure I would manage it, frankly. Then we went further into the park, there was the Wave Runner for the more adventurous and the inflatable bouncy pillow for the less so. All the kids had a good time, we managed to make headway into the stone of food, and it was quite relaxing. The kids were off and enjoying themselves and TW and I sat and chatted. 

They did spend quite a lot of time inside in the soft play area, which was confusing to me, with all the things to do outside, but that was probably for the best - I ended up with sunburn, which I think I got later in the day. We also went boating, which was included in the price, I managed to find it difficult to get into and out of the boat, which certainly amused TW, and the Eldest was grumpy because she wanted to row, and I didn't let her. After that I felt a bit washed out, like it had been an adrenaline rush, except I didn't feel a rush at the time. I did find it uncomfortable and difficult to row in the lifejackets they gave us, but I think I relaxed into it eventually...? We didn't leave until after 4pm and then stopped off briefly at a tent exhibition at Middle Farm, which showed us that we can't really afford a new one, I will just have to keep an eye on eBay I guess...

Then to finish the day off, I watched the Eurovision Song contest. Graham Norton's commentary was enjoyable, most of the songs were utter rubbish, but the costumes and the faux emotions were a sight to behold. Russia were the favourites to win, but as we were listening to the scores coming in, as we were falling asleep, Australia and Ukraine seemed to be doing quite well. It would have been a bit weird, watching the Eurovision next year in Melbourne or Sydney, but in the end Ukraine prevailed. Considering the history between Ukraine and Russia, and the subject matter of the Ukrainian song, I wouldn't be surprised if that leads to some kind of diplomatic incident. 

It was a full day, just writing about it has tired me out, I might need to go back to bed. At least we're not planning on an active morning today, that might give me a chance to regroup and recover...

TTFN.

Wednesday 16-05-11

Today has been a little dull and as expected. So no issues there. There were two things that I thought worth mentioning, and the first of those is the Palace leaks. Firstly Cameron was filmed stating that the countries of Nigeria and Afghanistan were "fantastically corrupt". I think his expectation was that we should infer that actually it was quite an achievement to get these parties to the table. I don't know, but it seems that this was an unguarded moment.
And then, following the PM's unguarded moment, there came the Queen's unguarded moment. Anyone might think that this news nugget was released in order to eclipse Cameron's faux pas, but that would indicate high levels of organisation, which I don't think can be assumed in this situation.
Any way, all of that is secondary to the beauty that is coleslaw.
When coleslaw is combined with a spicy flavour such as Branston pickle or southern fried chicken, it possesses a majesty which is altogether "other". It certainly lifted my sandwiches from the mundane to the glorious, and anything that can do that on a Wednesday lunchtime should be celebrated.  All hail the 'slaw!
TTFN

Tuesday 15-05-10 Birthday Celebrations

So today was our youngest's birthday; she was seven years old. She was awake early, as usual, she came up the stairs to our room in the eaves at 06:30. I was awake as normal, so I wished her Happy Birthday loudly and woke TW up quickly. She opened her presents and seemed to be happy with them, which was a good thing. For breakfast TW had brought in pains au chocolat, and I think it was that which sent me into a tizzy. I didn't make tea, I didn't take a cheque into Brighton to pay into the bank, I was unfocused at work. Never mind though, I got through it.
Getting home I discovered that the Youngest's godfather was visiting; I did know he was coming but had forgotten. It was great to see him again and the girls doted on him, so his visit was a good thing.

I had a little flutter on Rising Pune Supergiants today and only narrowly lost; Dhoni got run out in the final over. I'm sure that they would have won if that hasn't happened. As a result I bet on West Ham against Man Utd at 2-1, a two-fingered salute against the betting powers that be. I child have cashed out early for an easy but small win, but then shortly after half-time Man U equalised. They actually went 2-1 up and I was ready to resign myself to my loser fate. But then West Ham came back and won 3-2, and so I clawed back £1.29. A nice end to the day.
TTFN.

Sunday 16-05-08 II Making The Most of the Good Weather

Worthing (pebbly) beach today

So on the first weekend of good weather of the year, we made the most of it. Took the kids and accompanied by the neighbours we hit Worthing seafront, near Goring Gap, for two hours or so.
The sea might look a bit wonky, but to be honest it was so bright that I couldn't really see what I was taking a picture of. Let's hope for many more...
TTFN.

Sunday 16-05-08 I TW is Home

TW went away to a conference on Friday, all the way up to Telford. I worked from home Friday morning and took a half day in the afternoon so that I could pick up the kids from school and ferry them to their after school club, which happens to be rugby on a Friday. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, just right for sitting out and watching other people (i.e., my own kids) running around and being active.
We had chicken pie for dinner, which TW had bought earlier, since she knows that my  skills don't reach that far; I may be able to cook what's in front of me, but I've got no idea where it comes from. I also cooked carrots and potatoes, which they loved for some reason - I think it was due to the fact that I overcooked them, so that they were soft, and then coated them in butter. The potatoes that is, not the kids. I don't think I've ever coated my kids in butter. Anyway, the general consensus was that TW was never allowed to cook potatoes again, and it was now my job. Small victories :)
Despite telling myself that I wasn't going to have any alcohol on Friday evening, I found that I was in the possession of a bottle of red wine, so I drank that as I watched more episodes of Trapped. I've really enjoyed it so far, it's well-placed and the characters are interesting. I got through three episodes on Friday night, and then toddled off to bed.
Saturday morning I felt a bit fragile, so took things easy, which was not a challenge. The girls were all watching YouTube blogs (vlogs?) and trading information. The eldest and middle children were watching on their phones, and the youngest was using her tablet. All with headphones on so silence reigned. They were used to watching Good Mythical Morning, but they have recently discovered UK vloggers, such as Zoella. I do worry sometimes about the content they are watching, as they are aged 7 - 10 (the youngest is 7 on Tuesday), but I think on the whole it is fairly innocuous.
Anyway it got to the point where I had to insist that we went out and got some fresh air, so we must have been surfing the internet for too long, if it got to the stage where I'd had enough. I had packed up a parcel for return to Amazon (a pair of faulty headphones, no less), and was suffocating in the dark of the front room, with the curtains and windows closed. I did suggest a walk along the seafront, but the traffic to get across West Worthing crossing was backed up horribly and so we drove to the local park instead. The Youngest met a schoolfriend of hers and they all played nicely (more or less) for an hour or so. I gave the Eldest some money for ice creams, and so they ranked it as a success too.
The afternoon was less structured; despite the warm weather, or probably because of it, the sun disappeared, and there was no push to actually make it to the seafront after lunch (cheese on toast, in case you were wondering). So the girls played out on the street with their friends and the hours passed unnoticed. I had threatened or suggested to cook something that evening with the same soft boiled potatoes that had been such a hit on Friday night but in the end I took the easy option and thanked the Co-Op for preparing our dinners; a variey of curries, pizza and lasagnes.
Once the children were tucked up in bed it was on with Trapped (no wine this time) and I am getting close to the denouement, in fact I was 15 minutes into the final episode when TW got home. She had a good day at her Younique conference, and was quite fired up about making a go of it. And in light of that I should mention her selling page. Younique seems to be quite pricey, but those who've tried it seem to think it's worth it. I don't wear make-up myself, so I wouldn't know. The last time I wore make-up, I think, was at a fancy dress party with an "under the sea" theme - I went as "Coral", i.e., an older lady in pearls and a hideous dress I picked up from a charity shop.
So I will need to finish Trapped tonight, after the kids are tucked up again, and then we'll get on with The Bridge, I think. I do enjoy these Scandinavian noir thrillers.
That's probably enough about the weekend so far, now we've got to get on with Sunday.
TTFN.

Tuesday 16-05-03

Today I mostly felt quite chipper, despite overdoing it slightly yesterday. But what else are spring bank holidays for, except spending time with friends and over-indulging?
We had quite an active weekend, considering how inactive I would be, given half a chance... We mooched around Worthing on Friday, and had lunch out at Street Thai. Saturday afternoon we promenaded along the seafront with my sister who is over temporarily from Singapore, it was good to see her.
Sunday we spent the morning in Eartham Woods, and yesterday was spent in Sullington Wood - when I wasn't sipping wine in the kitchen...

I packed up my Huawei MediaPad this evening as I've sold it on eBay. I hope the new owner likes it, it's a nice piece of kit. I got a Lenovo 8" tablet as a sort of upgrade (it was going cheap on eBay and I put in a speculative bid, and accidentally won...), and I can't justify having two tablets. I may rationalise our chromebooks too; we have two and we don't really need both. The older one might be worth £15 or so.
TTFN.

Monday 16-05-02 Tory Irony

So we received this today, three days before the local elections...

So here is the funny thing about this for me...

It strikes me that they must have sat around, brainstorming, thinking how to get across the fact that, actually, the Tories aren't out of touch... I know! Let's call our local newsletter "In Touch"! That'll do it!

If there were any political party which one is likely to nominate as "out of touch", especially given recent pronouncements and defeats in the seat of power (the Houses of Parliament, both the Commons and the Lords), it would be the Tories. Both Labour and the Lib Dems, in my opinion, have a better public profile - when it comes to being "in touch" with the common people - than the Tories. So it strikes me as funny / odd that they would choose that phrase as the name of their publication. Still, I'm no PR guru...

And yes, those are my lovely comfy slippers which I have managed to include in the photograph. I don't feel like I'm properly at home and relaxed without my slippers on.