Friday 17-01-26 Brexit Update

The Supreme Court came back with their judgement on Tuesday, and actually Parliament do have to vote on whether to grant the Government the power to invoke Article 50. Of course, Parliament will probably vote to do so. Here is the bill, in its entirety:



It is sobering to think that so few words are going to have such a big and lasting effect on the nation. And whether it is a good or a bad thing, it will have a big impact.

I believe that the judges were right to decide that Parliament needed to vote, and that Government could not invoke Article 50 without Parliament's approval. Whatever happens next, at least no-one will be able to say that Article 50 was triggered improperly and claim some sort of compensation from the State.

It also seems that a number of MPs will vote against approving this bill, which will lead to the triggering of Article 50. I think that is only right as well. The basis for that assertion is that the vote was nearly a 50-50 split. Almost the same number of people voted for Brexit as voted against it. There were also a number of people who could have voted but didn't, and when you take their numbers into account, only 37% of the electorate voted for Brexit.

On that basis, the claims by Tory MPs and others that they are enacting "the will of the people" seem bogus. The people who didn't vote either did not have enough information (or misinformation), or, perhaps they were just happy with the status quo,  the way things were? I would argue that actually, with less than 40% of the electorate having voted for Brexit, we shouldn't be galloping towards the exit with such enthusiasm.

I think that the Tories, whether they voted remain or leave, see this as an opportunity to throw off the "shackles" of European legislation and regulation. But David Davis has claimed that workers' rights will be unaffected, and we are going to approach the WTO (World Trade Organisation) with exactly the same tariff schedule as we currently have under the EU umbrella. So if nothing is changing, what is the point of leaving? I believe that the Tories see this as a chance to have a "dynamic and thriving" economy, but if they are going to keep exactly the same conditions as we currently have, I'm not sure that I see the point. If, when they study the relevant bits of legislation, they decide that they'd like to keep those bits after all, because actually workers' rights and blue flags on beaches are the right thing to do, what is the point of leaving?

The "state" will have to increase in size, as well. All those monitoring and regulatory bodies which the EU currently maintains will have to be set up from scratch in the UK. We will have to increase the number of border guards and visa stampers currently employed. The annual national budget will have to go up to cover all the bureaucracy that we will have to manage, which was previously handled by the EU, or rendered unnecessary by our membership of the EU.

And this is all Cameron's and Farage's fault. Even if we make a success of Brexit, and there is a chance we might, there should be no argument over the fact that it will cost us money. The Brexit vote was offered to the people by Cameron to settle some internal Tory party wrangling, and he never thought that people would vote for it. So he never put in place the proper safeguards; that over 80% of the voting public had to vote, that >66% had to vote for Out, etc. And so Cameron and Farage should not receive any public honours - no knighthoods, no OBEs or CBEs, or similar. Cameron promised to take us through the Brexit negotiations, and as soon as it didn't go his way and it looked like there was a bit of hard work involved, he jacked it all in. Now, apparently, he is getting paid tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of pounds for giving speeches. So Farage and Cameron have massively inconvenienced the country and shouldn't get any thanks or praise for what they've done.

I'd rather we didn't leave the EU, but then I've never known any different environment. We used to be outside the EU, and we got along perfectly well, so I don't see why we shouldn't do so again. Companies who are working on slim margins might go to the wall, and a large percentage of people may not interact with other European countries at all, so they won't feel the impact at all. But with the change in the exchange rate imports should get more expensive, and that will lead through to higher prices on the high street. My pension fund has increased a lot over the last few months, and that is because the stock market indices have gone up. But the stock market indices have gone up because £ Sterling is worth less than it was. If I was able to access the money in my pension now, the worst possible thing I could do would be to try and spend it overseas. Something that cost $100 in the US, would have cost me £69 last June (exchange rate £1 = $1.45) and today would cost me £80 (exchange rate £1 = $1.25). TW would love me to take her to the U.S. for a shopping trip, but if everything in the U.S. is suddenly 15% more expensive, due to the deteriorating exchange rate, then it is even more unlikely now than it was last May.

Anyway, I've blathered on for long enough. I do have another couple of thoughts, which I may note down separately.

TTFN

Friday 17-01-27 Cheap Fitbit Imitations

So we bought cheap Fitbit imitations, or I guess you could call them fitness trackers in their own right, for our daughters for Christmas. They were easy to set up, the girls have phones which they could use to download the designated app (except TY, who has a tablet), and they followed the instructions.

The trouble is that the time often goes wrong on these devices, and then you have to sync them back to the app, and in doing that the steps counter resets to zero, so if it gets to five p.m., say, and we've been out for a long walk, the girls are pleased that they've walked  a lot, but in looking at their activity trackers, they notice that the time is wrong. So they sync, and lose their progress for the day.

One of them was so bad that I gave in and replaced it with a secondhand Fitbit Flex. It was secondhand off of eBay; it's not as "feature-rich" as TW's Charge HR, but it's a complete 100% improvement over the no-brand cheap imitations out there.

I am expecting to have to replace the activity trackers the other two have over the coming months, but I thought I would buy one a month to spread the cost. So what we thought was a nice Christmas gesture will probably turn out costing somewhere between £90-£100. But they are pretty good.

There are several models, other than Fitbits, which I would consider. The brands I'm keeping an eye on are Jawbone, they do one called UP24 which has had favourable reviews (I have a Jawbone earpiece, so I know they are good) and Xiaomi, who have produced the Miband. I have some of their headphones, so I believe they are reliable. Those are the ones I'd buy in my price range, I'm sure there are others (Nike, possibly?), but I'm planning to stay away from the no-brand types as, when it comes down to it, they are a false economy.

TTFN.

Sunday 17-01-22 Rugby Morning

This morning TE practised with the U13 girls at Worthing Rugby Club. I took her, as TW was out last night and was still sleeping at 10am. We had expected that though, and planned for it. There was a gas leak along the A259 which I thought might slow us down, but as it was we were able to get to the ground in plenty of time. I dropped TE down to the area of the ground where the girls were gathering, and I went off to sample the facilities.

I've been to rugby mornings before and I was looking forward to a bacon roll and a tea or a coffee. As it was, they did have bacon butties, but I plumped for a sausage in a roll, smothered in mustard and brown sauce. It was very nice. And as I sat to eat it, and drink my coffee, I had this scenery to digest as well:





Sometimes life isn't so bad :). Sitting in the sun, watching kids train and learn the intricacies of rugby (something I never did), I thought that we're actually quite lucky, living the life we do.

Sunday 17-01-22 Techno Lust and Consumerism

I have several ways of connecting to the internet and modern life, but recently it's just not enough. I yearn for a Microsoft Surface.

It would probably do exactly the same things as my current Windows laptop does, and I don't use the full functionality of that. I don't know all the apps and utilities which are available in the Microsoft Store, it's not something I check often. I've not bought into the Microsoft ecosystem in the same way I have with Android. The laptop we have in the sitting room is there to be used, but I prefer interacting with the chromebooks we have. Maybe that is the effect of Google and Chrome? But I yearn for a Microsoft Surface.

I can't afford a Microsoft Surface Pro 4; that's about £500 more than our family laptop cost two years ago. Or £450, to be more precise. So the best I would be able to afford is a first generation Microsoft Surface RT off of eBay. They go for about £80 or so, depending on their condition. But that is a device running RT, which isn't Windows 10 (which I quite like), so the app store may be slightly limited, the display is a standard 1366x768 - which may be okay on a 10" device - and I don't even have the first clue about the keyboard and whether that's any good. There is no guarantee that even if I picked up a bargain off of eBay that my yearning would be sated. It may feed my yearning, so that I end up selling a kidney to get my hands on a later version of the Surface, running "proper" Windows, with a more high definition display, and an i5 processor.  And I do yearn for a Microsoft Surface.

Here is a picture of the main devices we have in our home currently:

[caption id="attachment_552" align="alignnone" width="300"] My Devices[/caption]

I say main devices, because that doesn't include my phone, which I used to take the picture, TW's phone, the two phones belonging to TE and TMO, a back-up HTC One X which I don't use any more, a Lenovo 7" tablet which TY uses, and the original Samsung Galaxy Tab - which can also be used as a phone. And yet I yearn for a Microsoft Surface.

I probably wouldn't use all of its functionality, so I definitely wouldn't need an i5 or and i7 processor. I do a bit of surfing, and a bit of blogging. I check my bank balance and catch up on the news. I don't even watch iPlayer on the PC, although maybe I would with a more high definition screen? It's unlikely; I still buy CDs - I'm the sort of person who thinks TV shows should be watched on the TV. I think technology is leaping ahead of me, and I like to think that I'm quite tech-savvy. But I yearn for a Microsoft Surface.

And it's not like I have a choice of which of those devices I can use at any one time. Normally TE has snaffled one to watch Netflix in her cesspit of a room, and TMO has probably snaffled another to watch YouTube in some as yet undiscovered room upstairs. So often I have to use whatever is left. And yet, I do okay. It'll probably get worse as they get more homework and assignments which need to prepared on a computer, although they seem to be working with Google apps more these days, which means that I was wise to pick up the chromebooks. But I do yearn for a Microsoft Surface.

So, I can't afford one, and I wouldn't use it to its fullest. I have plenty of toys already, which I could probably do lots more with than I already do. And the children need feeding every now and then, so it's probably wiser to spend what we do have on food rather than a device which will just replicate what we already have. So I'm resigned to lusting over specs on Curry's website and believing my life would be better, if I just had more new tech in my life. And occasionally looking on eBay to see people snap up seemingly ridiculous bargains. I'll probably continue to yearn for a Microsoft Surface, but I'll just have to ensure that my yearning is unfulfilled...

Monday 17-01-16 Dryathlon

Here we are then, halfway through the month and I've not had a drink since I went to bed on New Year's Eve (which was really 1am on New Year's Day). It's not been too bad, although the Friday nights and Saturday nights have seemed longer and slower than normal. But then that might just be the sight of Gary Barlow's grinning fizzog looming out of the idiot box at me, giving me palpitations. 

I did sign up to do Dryathlon via the Cancer Research website, but I'm not intending to raise funds, this is purely a personal thing. They sent me two of the beermats pictured above, as well as a "Dryathlete" wristband, and I'm feeling a little guilty about it. Maybe I'll donate £20 or something at the end of the month; after all, I will have not spent much more than that on wine and beer. But I wanted to make some sort of external statement, rather than just an unspoken promise to myself, which I could then pretend at some point was never made. 

I've been wearing the wristband, although not in an ostentatious fashion. It's quite snug on my wrist and doesn't move about much at all, so even I don't see it. 

I've also enjoyed not having a hangover, and feeling brighter more often. My sleep hasn't improved, but I think that's because I'm 45 rather than 25, and even if I am awake for an hour or two early doors, I tend not to feel so tired later during the day. 

I did well in the Park Run on Saturday; despite not running mid-week, I managed my second-best time. I'd like to get a PB later in the month, but I think I will need to go out mid-week for that, and at the moment, it being January, it's bloody cold out there. Still, if it is dry tomorrow night, I may channel my inner Forrest and stretch my stumpy little legs. 

We were moving a dresser yesterday, for reasons which were beyond me, TW likes to move furniture around at random times; it keeps us all on our toes, she thinks. Anyway, we had to empty it before moving it, and we came across our Christmas booze stash - all the bottles left over from Christmas we didn't have enough days to drink. I think I counted five bottles of red wine, three bottles of white wine, and a couple of bottles of prosecco... It's going to be a good February! 

My only dilemma now is whether I stay up on January 31st until midnight to celebrate my month of sobriety with a glass or two, or I wait until the evening of the 1st February. I guess, since I drank into New Year's Day, that the month doesn't officially end until about 1am on 1st February, and I'm not sure that staying up until then and starting to drink at 1am is the wisest option - so I'll probably leave it. 

TTFN.

Monday 17-01-16 Dryathlon

 

 

Here we are then, halfway through the month and I've not had a drink since I went to bed on New Year's Eve (which was really 1am on New Year's Day). It's not been too bad, although the Friday nights and Saturday nights have seemed longer and slower than normal. But then that might just be the sight of Gary Barlow's grinning fizzog looming out of the idiot box at me, giving me palpitations. 

I did sign up to do Dryathlon via the Cancer Research website, but I'm not intending to raise funds, this is purely a personal thing. They sent me two of the beermats pictured above, as well as a "Dryathlete" wristband, and I'm feeling a little guilty about it. Maybe I'll donate £20 or something at the end of the month; after all, I will have not spent much more than that on wine and beer. But I wanted to make some sort of external statement, rather than just an unspoken promise to myself, which I could then pretend at some point was never made.

I've been wearing the wristband, although not in an ostentatious fashion. It's quite snug on my wrist and doesn't move about much at all, so even I don't see it.

I've also enjoyed not having a hangover, and feeling brighter more often. My sleep hasn't improved, but I think that's because I'm 45 rather than 25, and even if I am awake for an hour or two early doors, I tend not to feel so tired later during the day.

I did well in the Park Run on Saturday; despite not running mid-week, I managed my second-best time. I'd like to get a PB later in the month, but I think I will need to go out mid-week for that, and at the moment, it being January, it's bloody cold out there. Still, if it is dry tomorrow night, I may channel my inner Forrest and stretch my stumpy little legs.

We were moving a dresser yesterday, for reasons which were beyond me, TW likes to move furniture around at random times; it keeps us all on our toes, she thinks. Anyway, we had to empty it before moving it, and we came across our Christmas booze stash - all the bottles left over from Christmas we didn't have enough days to drink. I think I counted five bottles of red wine, three bottles of white wine, and a couple of bottles of prosecco... It's going to be a good February!

My only dilemma now is whether I stay up on January 31st until midnight to celebrate my month of sobriety with a glass or two, or I wait until the evening of the 1st February. I guess, since I drank into New Year's Day, that the month doesn't officially end until about 1am on 1st February, and I'm not sure that staying up until then and starting to drink at 1am is the wisest option - so I'll probably leave it.

TTFN.

Sunday 17-01-14 Wet Saturday

Yesterday we started the day by Skyping Mum and wishing her Happy Birthday. She and Dad are in Singapore visiting my sister and her family, which is nice, especially when the weather in the UK is so dreary at the moment.
Then it was the Park Run, obviously, it being a Saturday morning. I did okay, I finished in 29:01, which is my second best time. Apparently I have managed it in 28:14 once, but I am sure that was an anomaly and they got it wrong that week. It was dry for the Park Run and TW also did well, coming close to her PB (personal best) time. TE wanted a slushie but the machine wasn't working at Splashpoint, so TW offered to make her a hot chocolate when we got home. TE agreed, surprisingly, and so we stopped and bought some squirty cream from Tesco Express at the Worthing rail crossing on the way home. We also picked up some halloumi and as soon as we got home, TW started frying that as a snack / late breakfast for the girls. Then she went out to pick up some clothes & deliver some make-up, while I washed.
I was looking forward to a lazy day from there, but TW had other ideas. She was on the go pretty much all morning and then suggested we go out for a walk. The girls protested but I could see that they needed some fresh air; the youngest two had been glued to YouTube all morning and were beginning to mong out. They did suggest Woods Mill, but couldn't all agree, and eventually we plumped for Southwater. That was a nice compromise, I thought, because it's quite a relaxing park but most of the paths are paved, and so we wouldn't end up getting unnecessarily muddy.
I didn't count on the rain though. Although it was dry when we left home, by the time we got there, it was raining, and it didn't stop. It was an okay walk, and the girls got their fresh air and some exercise on the climbing frames in the park. Everything was wet though, so playing on the swings and slides was out of the question.
We stopped at McDonalds Buck Barn on the way home, initially for a snack, "something off the 99p menu" TW said, but when we got in the girls asked for more substantial eats, and so they had burgers and fries, and I had some Nuggets and a Quarter Pounder with cheese. It was 4pm by this time, and TW realised that we were planning to have burgers for dinner, which wasn't going to work any more. The girls ended up having a snack at about 18:30 and that seemed to sate them.
Then it was an evening of crap telly; the Gary Barlow vehicle Let It Shine, which seems more kindly-spirited than X Factor, but is limited to men only, and then The Voice on ITV, which I think comes in second place, but that is due to its familiarity. The Barlow show is a suppose a retread of the previous talent search How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, which of course was limited to women only. But the whole show (Let It Shine) acts as a big advert for the forthcoming musical, which isn't the precise story of Take That, but is based on their story, and incorporates the music of Take That. So Barlow is being paid to appear in a show which promotes a musical which he has written, which contains songs for which he will receive royalties. That sounds like a nice little earner.
And then it was bedtime, and I slept.

Sunday 17-01-14 Wet Saturday

Yesterday we started the day by Skyping Mum and wishing her Happy Birthday. She and Dad are in Singapore visiting my sister and her family, which is nice, especially when the weather in the UK is so dreary at the moment.
Then it was the Park Run, obviously, it being a Saturday morning. I did okay, I finished in 29:01, which is my second best time. Apparently I have managed it in 28:14 once, but I am sure that was an anomaly and they got it wrong that week. It was dry for the Park Run and TW also did well, coming close to her PB (personal best) time. TE wanted a slushie but the machine wasn't working at Splashpoint, so TW offered to make her a hot chocolate when we got home. TE agreed, surprisingly, and so we stopped and bought some squirty cream from Tesco Express at the Worthing rail crossing on the way home. We also picked up some halloumi and as soon as we got home, TW started frying that as a snack / late breakfast for the girls. Then she went out to pick up some clothes & deliver some make-up, while I washed.
I was looking forward to a lazy day from there, but TW had other ideas. She was on the go pretty much all morning and then suggested we go out for a walk. The girls protested but I could see that they needed some fresh air; the youngest two had been glued to YouTube all morning and were beginning to mong out. They did suggest Woods Mill, but couldn't all agree, and eventually we plumped for Southwater. That was a nice compromise, I thought, because it's quite a relaxing park but most of the paths are paved, and so we wouldn't end up getting unnecessarily muddy.
I didn't count on the rain though. Although it was dry when we left home, by the time we got there, it was raining, and it didn't stop. It was an okay walk, and the girls got their fresh air and some exercise on the climbing frames in the park. Everything was wet though, so playing on the swings and slides was out of the question.
We stopped at McDonalds Buck Barn on the way home, initially for a snack, "something off the 99p menu" TW said, but when we got in the girls asked for more substantial eats, and so they had burgers and fries, and I had some Nuggets and a Quarter Pounder with cheese. It was 4pm by this time, and TW realised that we were planning to have burgers for dinner, which wasn't going to work any more. The girls ended up having a snack at about 18:30 and that seemed to sate them.
Then it was an evening of crap telly; the Gary Barlow vehicle Let It Shine, which seems more kindly-spirited than X Factor, but is limited to men only, and then The Voice on ITV, which I think comes in second place, but that is due to its familiarity. The Barlow show is a suppose a retread of the previous talent search How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, which of course was limited to women only. But the whole show (Let It Shine) acts as a big advert for the forthcoming musical, which isn't the precise story of Take That, but is based on their story, and incorporates the music of Take That. So Barlow is being paid to appear in a show which promotes a musical which he has written, which contains songs for which he will receive royalties. That sounds like a nice little earner.
And then it was bedtime, and I slept.

Wednesday 17-01-04 The Dentist

I had to go back to the dentist today. I had a check-up on my last working day of 2016, and he told me I needed a filling. I agreed to have it immediately but unfortunately it was in one of my back teeth and it felt like he was drilling into my head. He gave me some anaesthetic, but I could still feel the drilling, it was still painful. I think the air blowing across my sensitive teeth didn't help much either, but probably the main agent fighting the anaesthetic was the alcohol in the cans of beer I drank the night before. He managed to drill nearly halfway to the fissure that needed cleaning out and filling, and gave me some more anaesthetic, but it wasn't working. Eventually he gave up, filled in the hole with a temporary filling, and asked me to come back. 

So for the Christmas period I was quietly dreading my return visit to the dentist, hoping that I would be able to handle the filling. I pootled down there today and sat in the chair, and again I took the anaesthetic. He drilled and it was painful again, but I think I was managing okay. The dentist realised though that it was the machinery (the drill and the air) which was the issue, and so he abandoned those and carried on with just a scraper. He got into the fissure and cleaned it, and then filled it. I was pleased he was able to complete the filling, and pleased that I didn't need to have a general anaesthetic or something along those lines. 

Of course my mouth was numb for the rest of the afternoon, but that is it for another six months. I will be using floss and interdental sticks a lot more than I have been. Hopefully I can avoid another filling for another couple of years...

Tuesday 17-01-03 An Unplanned Day

Today we didn't have much on until T texted and asked if we were free. We had to write cards for the branch of the family tree living in Singapore since M&P were flying at about seven pm. They were setting off at one pm and obviously had to be there a couple of hours early, and they had to take into account the crap service that Southern like to call a functioning railway.
I cycled over with the girls, on our first cycle ride of the year. It was a bit icy but the girls were careful and we got there in one piece. We handed over the cards and Mum gave us a cup of tea and some tomatoes in return. Then we wished them safe travels, and headed back.
Tyrone arrived and we decided to go to Food; it was what the girls wanted. It was very nice as always; at least I didn't order the wrong thing this time. I kept it simple with steak frites, and followed that with an almond and amaretto crème brulée. TW expressed dismay that I didn't offer her the first bite, but I wanted to taste it, and it was my pudding. So unfortunately, she had to wait. She did get two mouthfuls though, so she did okay by the end.
Then for dinner TW was planning to make a chicken chow mein, but Ty decided he wanted to go to KFC, and so we had a takeaway bucket for dinner. The chicken was nice but the fries were horrible, in my opinion; limp, cold and tasteless. However, the saving grace was the gravy KFC provided - it was delicious and thick, and covered the shortcomings of the fries.
Ty headed off after the girls went to sleep and we finished off the day with an episode of Suits. I worked out that the prison psychiatrist is the same actor who used to be Theo Huxtable in the Cosby Show, and I was pretty pleased with myself for that. I wasn't really prepared to go back to work, but I fell asleep pretty quickly.

Wednesday 17-01-04 The Dentist

I had to go back to the dentist today. I had a check-up on my last working day of 2016, and he told me I needed a filling. I agreed to have it immediately but unfortunately it was in one of my back teeth and it felt like he was drilling into my head. He gave me some anaesthetic, but I could still feel the drilling, it was still painful. I think the air blowing across my sensitive teeth didn't help much either, but probably the main agent fighting the anaesthetic was the alcohol in the cans of beer I drank the night before. He managed to drill nearly halfway to the fissure that needed cleaning out and filling, and gave me some more anaesthetic, but it wasn't working. Eventually he gave up, filled in the hole with a temporary filling, and asked me to come back.

So for the Christmas period I was quietly dreading my return visit to the dentist, hoping that I would be able to handle the filling. I pootled down there today and sat in the chair, and again I took the anaesthetic. He drilled and it was painful again, but I think I was managing okay. The dentist realised though that it was the machinery (the drill and the air) which was the issue, and so he abandoned those and carried on with just a scraper. He got into the fissure and cleaned it, and then filled it. I was pleased he was able to complete the filling, and pleased that I didn't need to have a general anaesthetic or something along those lines.

Of course my mouth was numb for the rest of the afternoon, but that is it for another six months. I will be using floss and interdental sticks a lot more than I have been. Hopefully I can avoid another filling for another couple of years...

Tuesday 17-01-03 An Unplanned Day

Today we didn't have much on until T texted and asked if we were free. We had to write cards for the branch of the family tree living in Singapore since M&P were flying at about seven pm. They were setting off at one pm and obviously had to be there a couple of hours early, and they had to take into account the crap service that Southern like to call a functioning railway.
I cycled over with the girls, on our first cycle ride of the year. It was a bit icy but the girls were careful and we got there in one piece. We handed over the cards and Mum gave us a cup of tea and some tomatoes in return. Then we wished them safe travels, and headed back.
Tyrone arrived and we decided to go to Food; it was what the girls wanted. It was very nice as always; at least I didn't order the wrong thing this time. I kept it simple with steak frites, and followed that with an almond and amaretto crème brulée. TW expressed dismay that I didn't offer her the first bite, but I wanted to taste it, and it was my pudding. So unfortunately, she had to wait. She did get two mouthfuls though, so she did okay by the end.
Then for dinner TW was planning to make a chicken chow mein, but Ty decided he wanted to go to KFC, and so we had a takeaway bucket for dinner. The chicken was nice but the fries were horrible, in my opinion; limp, cold and tasteless. However, the saving grace was the gravy KFC provided - it was delicious and thick, and covered the shortcomings of the fries.
Ty headed off after the girls went to sleep and we finished off the day with an episode of Suits. I worked out that the prison psychiatrist is the same actor who used to be Theo Huxtable in the Cosby Show, and I was pretty pleased with myself for that. I wasn't really prepared to go back to work, but I fell asleep pretty quickly.

Monday 17-01-01 I A New Year

...and relax. The decorations are down, and things have returned to normal. The bacchanalian urges which have been driving us to dive into a sea of hedonism and consumerism have abated again, and we'll probably hibernate now for a month or so. The weather yesterday was quite appropriate; it was raining pretty much all day and it became heavier in the evening.
I am considering becoming a Dryathlete for the month. That was on the cards even before I woke up with a dry mouth and a blurry memory this morning, and even before the festive season started. Maybe now I'm back running, I can properly shape up. But I've made starts before and never seen them through and they do say that madness is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.
On Saturday we made it to the Park Run and made some space for the prosecco I drank later. We popped over to Angmering to see the GiL, and it seems that she's had visitors - she was drinking wine, so someone must have brought it to her. We didn't stay long, she seemed okay but a bit fed up, as she is liable to be these days. She is going to be 98 in February, and she just sits in her chair, drinking wine and not really talking to anyone or having any stimulus except the TV. I'd be fed up in her shoes. But she won't accept any help, so it's best not to offer or make suggestions - she'll just ignore them.
We saw the New Year in with friends, at a house party. I had a lovely time, and then bailed at about 1am. TW and the girls were going strong though, and didn't get to bed until 4am. Yesterday was obviously a slow day, and we didn't get up to much - except, of course, we went ice skating (or the kids did) at the Worthing Ice Rink. They enjoyed it I think, and it was fairly quiet too, which was good for them. TY complained at the start that she wanted a penguin, which is a kind of stabiliser / skating aid, but within five minutes she was zooming around with the best of them. I was a little disappointed that we, the grown-ups, didn't go on, but I was still pretty wiped out from the New Year's Eve festivities.
Happy New Year all, and I hope that you have a good 2017.

Monday 17-01-01 I A New Year

...and relax. The decorations are down, and things have returned to normal. The bacchanalian urges which have been driving us to dive into a sea of hedonism and consumerism have abated again, and we'll probably hibernate now for a month or so. The weather yesterday was quite appropriate; it was raining pretty much all day and it became heavier in the evening.
I am considering becoming a Dryathlete for the month. That was on the cards even before I woke up with a dry mouth and a blurry memory this morning, and even before the festive season started. Maybe now I'm back running, I can properly shape up. But I've made starts before and never seen them through and they do say that madness is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.
On Saturday we made it to the Park Run and made some space for the prosecco I drank later. We popped over to Angmering to see the GiL, and it seems that she's had visitors - she was drinking wine, so someone must have brought it to her. We didn't stay long, she seemed okay but a bit fed up, as she is liable to be these days. She is going to be 98 in February, and she just sits in her chair, drinking wine and not really talking to anyone or having any stimulus except the TV. I'd be fed up in her shoes. But she won't accept any help, so it's best not to offer or make suggestions - she'll just ignore them.
We saw the New Year in with friends, at a house party. I had a lovely time, and then bailed at about 1am. TW and the girls were going strong though, and didn't get to bed until 4am. Yesterday was obviously a slow day, and we didn't get up to much - except, of course, we went ice skating (or the kids did) at the Worthing Ice Rink. They enjoyed it I think, and it was fairly quiet too, which was good for them. TY complained at the start that she wanted a penguin, which is a kind of stabiliser / skating aid, but within five minutes she was zooming around with the best of them. I was a little disappointed that we, the grown-ups, didn't go on, but I was still pretty wiped out from the New Year's Eve festivities.
Happy New Year all, and I hope that you have a good 2017.