Wednesday 18-03-14 Gym Bunny

I’ve never thought of myself as a gym bunny. I was a member of the gym at work a number of years ago, but after a few months I developed a serious cold that knocked me out of action for a couple of weeks, and I never went back.

TW has offered to get me membership of Worthing Leisure, or Southdowns Leisure for some time, and each time I’ve said yes, I am interested, but she never followed through and actually signed me up. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is, when there was a free signing up Saturday.

As a concession member (the kids had already signed up, so TW & I signed up separately and because we live at the same address we get a partial discount), it costs £39 per month for each of us. If we are still using the membership at the end of the year, when the kids’ membership lapses, we’ll probably sign up for a family membership.

The first class I went to was a “weight loss boot camp”. There were about seven or eight of us doing 50 seconds of exercise with a ten second changeover. It was overwhelming; the exercises were done at quite a pace and there wasn’t much time to pick up the correct way to perform the exercises. Luckily TW was there to see me straight. It was quite a shock, and certainly different from running; with running, I can set my own pace, and just detach myself, not really thinking about much at all except the rhythm of running. With short sharp bursts of exercise, I was worried whether I was doing the right sort of bends, were my hips supposed to stay face on?, was I supposed to stretch behind my head?, could I balance like that? But I made it through, and actually felt good for doing it.

I can’t think what happened then, but I didn’t do any classes or go running for the rest of the week. I think it was due to the snow and extreme cold. Then I cricked my neck, so I missed the next week. But by Saturday I was ready for another class, and so we signed up for Body Balance. I think I mentioned this in a post last week. It’s a mix of tai chi, yoga and pilates. The class was quite full, and we were standing in front of a mirror wall. Some of the class were obviously experts and able to pull off the poses and stretches effortlessly, striking an aesthetically pleasing and solid stance. They were a most impressive sight in the mirror. Unfortunately, as the class went on, the pleasing zen-like movements were marred by my sweaty red-faced wobbling in the background. The class did get harder as it went on, and although I found it tough, I did enjoy it and we are going back. I have discovered though, that my body leaves a lot to be desired and I have no balance.

Next time I think I’ll cover the circuits class I went to on Monday night. It was a lot harder than I was expecting, but again, I think I am going to go back. I do ache a bit, I’ve done three classes in five days, which is quite intense for me, but they’ve been enjoyable so far. If I can build the classes into my routine, I may even keep it up, who knows?

TTFN.

Friday 18-03-09 Friday Night - The End of the Week

Here we are then, Friday night. The girls are upstairs applying make-up to each other, by the sounds of it, and I am down here with my trusty laptop and a glass of orange juice & lemonade. It is full fat lemonade, mind; none of that diet stuff for me.

This week has whizzed by in a flash. Not much has really happened, except that I got a crick in my neck which gave me a couple of really bad nights’ sleep on Wednesday and Thursday. I was going to go to a class at the gym on Wednesday night, but really didn’t think it was appropriate. TW did suggest I go for a steam and sauna instead, which would have been nice, but by the time Wednesday night rolled around I was really quite tired and so didn’t even manage to get around to that.

The rest of the week was mostly taken up with watching catch-up TV: TW and I steamed through the second series of “Delicious” which was on Sky One, starring Dawn French and Emilia Fox. It was only a four-parter, but it was good. While TW was away last weekend I did finish watching the second series of “The Expanse” as well last weekend, and I am looking forward to more of the same. It’s excellent stuff; just the right mix of drama and sci-fi. I started watching the new Star Trek series on Netflix, but since I’d had a few drinks I’ll probably benefit from watching it again.

This weekend I shall mostly be following the Six Nations, and I’m looking forward to getting back to it. A bit of Body Balance in the morning, and then spectating in the afternoon is just what the doctor ordered. Sunday, of course, is Mother’s Day, so Mum and Dad are coming over for lunch – which will be nice.

TTFN.

Thursday 18-02-22 I Beer

I tried that Nanny State on Tuesday night, the low alcohol beer made by Brewdog. It was okay. The crazy thing is that it is only 0.5% abv, which means that, as I had two bottles, I only consumed 0.33 units of alcohol. At least, that was before I had a glass of wine... That was more like one and a half units.

Friday 18-02-16 I A Nice Day Out and Coco

Yesterday was the first of two days off. It’s half-term and TW is working yesterday and today, so I have stepped into the breach and taken responsibility for childcare. Except that TE is away on a two day rugby course, TMO was away on a sleepover and had been since 1pm, so it was just me and TY.
We went into town and had lunch at Pomodoro e Mozzarella, which was lovely. And, quite reasonably, kids eat half-price during the week (Mon-Fri). You’d think that, if that is the case, they would get smaller portions, but no, their pizzas are exactly the same size as the full price versions. We’ve been there before and will go again, for me their Napoletana pizza is the best…
The lunch took just about the right amount of time, so we had a few minutes to pop into WHSmith and get some sweets for the cinema. I’d booked tickets for Coco, which turned out to be a lovely film. TY, who is eight, had said that she’d quite like to see Black Panther, but I think that was probably aimed at a slightly older audience. I’ll be able to let her know one way or the other, since I am going to see it tonight… Anyway, Coco was brilliant. It’s a very colourful film, quite literally, based around the Day of the Dead, which is not another zombie film but a Mexican tradition. I had a little tear in my eye at the film’s denouement, but then I have form in that regard. For example, Scrooged always makes me tear up at the end, and I think that might be because apparently that final call to arms was improvised by Bill Murray. Anyway…
It was a lovely afternoon, and time spent one-on-one with my childers, any of the three of them, is time well spent.
TTFN.

Saturday 18-02-10 I Brexit, an itch I can't scratch

I read with interest today that the EU are beginning to decide what Brexit will look like. It is unsurprising that someone has stepped into the void where British leadership should be, but I guess someone had to.

The current Brexit planning seems to want no hard border with Ireland, but also no customs union. I think the two things are irreconcilable, and I’m not quite sure what Theresa May / David Davis are aiming for. Unless they are trying to scupper the whole shebang, maybe?

Michel Barnier said that the Brits are going to have to make some decisions, and quickly, if they want to get everything nailed down by the self-imposed March deadline. Now, he is saying that if the disagreements are not resolved, any transition period could be in doubt.

This is the issue though; the UK are throwing out some “blue sky” thinking, and desperately hoping that something sticks. The position papers they published last year were sent out into a vacuum, nor were they properly assessed or tested by analysts. Now, I expect, the negotiators are getting to the hard end of it, and the question should be “how will that work, precisely?”. But it seems that Davis and his team think that their function has been fulfilled – “we’ve given you a proposal, now make it work”.

Every time I hear a Brexity spokesman on the radio, they suggest that we will be out of the customs union, but we still want free trade with the EU countries. “We don’t want to impose tariffs on their goods, and we don’t see why they would want to impose tariffs on ours”, they say. Unfortunately, that isn’t how trade works; if we are outside the EU, then we will be subject to tariffs; this is the way it has to be, because the EU needs to treat all trading partners the same. If they don’t impose tariffs on us, the U.S. can open a trade dispute with the WTO, as I understand it, because the EU would not be treating their trading partners equally.

It’s all a big mess, and I don’t see any way out for this government. They have painted themselves into a corner with all their red lines (no ECJ jurisdiction, no hard border in Ireland, no customs union, etc.) and I don’t believe they can deliver what they promised. Let’s see how it goes, shall we?
TTFN.

Saturday 18-02-03 I Ahir Shah at The Old Market (1st Feb 2018)

On Thursday we went to see Ahir Shah at The Old Market in Brighton. TW had bought the tickets as a Christmas present, and I was looking forward to it. I didn’t know who Ahir was, and I’d never heard any of his stuff. But he was interviewed by Richard Herring on his RHLSTP, and apparently he was short-listed for the Edinburgh Comedy prize in 2017.

He was good. I liked his set, I liked where he was coming from. He was absolutely suited to a Brighton audience, being sort of lefty / liberal. He made some really good points, and some sharp analogies. He was preaching to the converted though, it being Brighton. Even when he wasn’t being laugh out loud funny, he was thought-provoking and interesting. I’d be interested in seeing his future material, and how he builds on what he’s already achieved.

The Old Market is a lovely venue, we’ve got some friends who have staged productions there before, but unfortunately we’ve never made it to their shows. I think we’ve probably been missing out. While we were enjoying a pre-show drink, I noticed that they were advertising Fleabag, and nudged TW. She bought tickets later that night, so we are definitely going back at least once. And Rob Auton is performing his show “Hair” there at the start of March, so I might be going back sooner than planned.

Before going to The Old Market we went for dinner at the Kanok Thai restaurant, which was delicious. We each chose a starter and a main course, and all the dishes were lovely. We left not feeling over-full, and refreshed ready for the evening’s entertainment. I would certainly recommend it as a good place to eat.

So that was our Thursday. Dinner out, wine and a comedian who confirmed all our views of the parlous state of current affairs. What more could one want from a night out?
TTFN.

Sunday 18-01-21 I Dry January

I’ve not had a drink since the 6^th January. And that was only one glass of red wine. It was the remains of a bottle I opened the night before, on the 5^th. I didn’t drink from the 1^st to the 4^th before that.

I certainly could have done with a drink last night, but I didn’t succumb. It would have been so easy; TW was off in Brighton meeting some friends and although she’s “not doing Dry January”, she hasn’t been drinking either (except for the 5^th, the same as me). But she told friends that she was probably drinking last night, and so it turned out.

We’ve got beers and wine chilling (and freezing, on some nights!) in the back garden, and I could have easily opened the back door and cracked one of those bottles open, but I didn’t. I guess that I’ve got this far (20^th Jan) and I didn’t want to give in at this stage. TW & I are going out on the 1^st February to see a comedian – Ahir Shah, performing “Control”, and I am planning to have a drink then, but obviously I shall want to remember the show, so I’m not planning on getting hideously pissed. And, in addition, we are going to a rugby evening on the 2^nd, and I shall be driving, as TW is planning to be away that weekend.

What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that I’ve got a few things to look forward to, and so not drinking now is not (or at least it shouldn’t feel like) a hardship. Since it is the 21^st already, there are only ten days to go. I’m not trying to raise money for charity or push teetotalism, but it is good, from my personal perspective, to take some time away from alcohol. I balk at the phrase “evaluate my relationship with alcohol”, but taking a month off does go to show that if we (that’s the royal we, i.e. I) don’t think about it consciously, alcohol can easily start becoming a regular fixture in the evenings. On a couple of occasions (and probably more) TW has looked at me disapprovingly as I placed another four-pack of lagers in the fridge. It’s easy with the Co-Op and The Wine Centre standing between West Worthing train station and home… Anyway, the world probably won’t end if I have a few nights without a beer or two.

TTFN.

Thursday 18-01-08 I A New Phone

I bought a new phone last Friday.

I had been looking at the Honor 7x, tempted by its big 5.93” screen. The only concerns were that it didn’t have fast charging (USB-C) or NFC, so I wouldn’t be able to use Android Pay. In 2018, even for phones less than £300, I don’t think those sort of things should be missing from a phone. I was looking on GSM Arena for other phones which met my criteria (USB-C, screen 5.5” or bigger, NFC, a few other things), and up popped the HTC U Ultra.

I followed the link to HTC UK’s website and saw that it was available for £279. Considering that the Honor 7x is £269, it was definitely a possible. I checked Carphone Warehouse and it was available there for £419. It was a steal, basically, especially when you throw into the mix the fact that when it was first released, HTC were asking £649 for the handset.

My only concern is that the battery is only 3,000 MaH on this beast. But with the fast charge option, it should be easy to keep it topped up. I’ll need to buy a couple of additional USB-C cables I think, but that won’t be too difficult.

I ordered the phone anyway, last Friday. I received an acknowledgement of my order, but didn’t hear anything else, until Monday when I received an email notifying me that the phone would be delivered on Tuesday. And so it turned out – luckily TW was at home to sign for the bugger. And I had to wait until the evening before I got to play with my new toy.

I do like it. I may have to charge it more often than I would normally like, and maybe a larger battery will be one of my prerequisites next time. But for now, and for less than £300, it is fast, the camera is good, and apps aren't randomly closed because the phone "thinks it knows best". And with fast charging available, I shouldn't have to spend hours charging it either.

I may revisit this in a couple of months, and see how I feel then. But for now, I'm quite happy with my new purchase.

TTFN.

Friday 18-01-05 A Summary

Tuesday was the day when the decorations came down. TW had suggested that we take them down last week, before New Year's, but I disagreed. It was a sign of the end of festivities though; the house looked bare, TW was back to work on the Wednesday, and the kids were back to school on Thursday. There were no more planned parties or social gatherings, and reality was beginning to reassert itself.

It's funny how we can become used to the festive trappings so quickly; the presence of a tree in one room and a Nativity in another, and the walls and doors festooned with cards seems perfectly normal. Then, when these things are all put away, it seems like a deprivation. But really, we are storing away our Christmas spirit so that we can revive it at the start of December less than 11 months away now.

Wednesday brought swimming for the girls and coat shopping for me; I popped into Debenhams to see if I could try on a couple of coats, but the Worthing branch is relatively small, so I ordered two coats online instead.

On our way to Splashpoint TMO did say "at least I don't have shoes in my holes", which both I and TE picked her up on. Like the scene in Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka - scratch that: rewind and reverse it.

Thursday, which was supposed to be my day of return to work, saw me struck down with a cold. I think I've gone through about three loo rolls blowing my nose over the last two days. Hopefully tomorrow will see an improvement.

My coats arrived and I picked them up. When I got them home and tried them on it was clear that the Craghoppers one was preferable, which was satisfying because it was the cheaper one. I'll need to return the other tomorrow.

So far I've managed to read comics and pages of my book, which is my de facto New Year's resolution. We'll need to see though whether that holds when I get back to work properly.

I also managed to sell my Microsoft Surface, after a bit of soul-searching... To be honest, I wasn't using it often enough to warrant keeping it, and in the spirit of the New Year and streamlining my life, I listed it on eBay.

I have been lusting after a new chromebook instead, but it wasn't really suitable. I need to be happy with what I've got, I think. My Tab and a bluetooth keyboard should be enough, usually.

Tuesday 18-01-02 I New Year's Recovery

The first day of the year consisted mostly of me slowly gathering my thoughts, a.k.a. trying to ward off the worst effects of the hangover. It truly was the day after the night before. At least now that the kids are older they don’t need entertaining nearly as much, and because they were also up until 3am with the grown-ups, they were nearly as docile as me.

We had croissants for breakfast and then I stumbled across an Adam Sandler film, Bedtime Stories, which was a bit of easy watching for the Hard of Thinking. It passed the time, but I didn’t really like the ending – in my opinion it was a bit overbaked.

In the afternoon we went for a walk along the beach with some friends and their dog. Dogs are a great excuse for getting some exercise but we’re not getting one, no matter how often the family plead with me to do so.

In the evening we watched Grandpa’s Great Escape, which was the by now traditional David Walliams Christmas treat. We had watched Ratburger on Sky, and I thought that Sky had done their usual trick of nabbing a terrestrial “jewel”, but it seems that the BBC got the best deal. While Ratburger was great, I think Grandpa’s Great Escape was amazing. It may have been implausible, but it really tugged at the heartstrings in a way that Ratburger just didn’t. Set in the 80s, it had a fantastical quality to start with, and it built on that. The whole cast were brilliant, I thought, and it had all of us in tears by the final act.

I managed to read a few pages of a book which the MiL’s partner has lent me, called Collusion, and also got through a couple of comics – I’ve started reading Surgeon X, which is set in a dystopian future where antibiotics don’t have the same effects as they do today. It’s quite dark, but no less enjoyable for that. My intention (New Year’s Resolution?) is to read more this year, and also document it, so this might figure more prominently in these entries this year…

TTFN.

Friday 17-12-01 Politics and Twitter

Saddened. I guess that’s how I would describe my current state. A couple of days ago, Donald Trump, the President of the U.S., decided to retweet some hate-mongering tweets which came from the account of Britain First. Britain First are a hateful far-right organisation who seem to exist to stir up hate against furriners and them Muslims, as far as I can make out.

It was a very un-Presidential thing to do, but I guess not unexpected when measured against the range of previous actions undertaken by this current President. When the British press and politicians condemned this action, he then tweeted directly to Theresa May, in public, that maybe she should not “focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom…”. Before he tweeted this to Theresa May, UK Prime Minister, he managed to “@” a completely different Theresa May, who just happens to have the same name as our PM.

I guess this just goes to show why one shouldn’t conduct diplomacy over Twitter. There are not enough characters, even with 280 available, to convey a subtle message. Not that there is anything subtle about Donald Trump. But if one goes through the proper channels, then one can be sure that one’s message will actually reach the intended recipient.

His spokesperson Sarah Sanders claimed that Trump was trying to “elevate the conversation” by taking to Twitter and retweeting these videos. I’m not sure that this was his intention. Twitter has become a bit of a free-for-all, and there is a degree of viciousness and muck-raking which you don’t see on Facebook for instance, and you certainly don’t see it in the Press. But there he was, on Twitter, retweeting Islamophobic videos and telling Theresa May to focus on her own backyard.

This of course became newsworthy, and so for a couple of news cycles, the first headline most people saw was the fact that Trump had retweeted fascist propaganda, and then he’d advised the Prime Minister of a foreign sovereign nation to “wind her neck in” (my summary).

It’s just tawdry. Where are the leaders to inspire us, where are the people with a vision of the future or even the present who can persuade us and prompt us to be better versions of ourselves? They are certainly not in power at the moment, not in the UK or the U.S.

This whole episode prompted me to go look at Trump’s tweets – I don’t follow him, I don’t see the need, especially when they become front page news anyway – and I found this beauty:

“If the Dems had won the Presidential Election, the Market would be down 50% from these levels and Consumer Confidence … would be “low and glum””. Just reflect on that for a minute. The President is stating that if the vote had gone differently, the U.S. stock market would be worth half of what it is worth now. Based on what? What research supports this? What is the scientific or economic theory indicating this outcome? I don’t think there are any. These are the mindless ramblings of a man who has some baseless beliefs and access to a social media platform.

I don’t understand how we’ve got to where we are today, but I know that it scares the shit out of me.

TTFN.

 

Saturday 17-11-25 Brexit Update (Again)

So here is how I think Brexit is going to proceed.

We won’t get a deal by the end of March 2019. In fact, we probably won’t even know at that stage what the outline of Brexit will look like. Or, it will be starting to take shape, but the detail won’t be known. I’ve actually got a bet on that, although it’s only pennies.

By that date we will have extended the timeframes associated with Article 50. We won’t be leaving the EU at the end of March 2019. The extension will probably be either two or three years, so that will take us to March 2021 or 22.

After that date there will be a transition period of at least two years. That will give businesses time to adjust to the new status quo. During the transition period, we will remain part of the EU, we will continue to observe the decisions of the ECJ, and we will continue to pay into the EU coffers.

By that stage, no-one will want to talk about Brexit; it will be a taboo subject. It will belong to nerds and specialists.

However, these extended timeframes will give the UK authorities time to set up new regulatory bodies, so for instance whatever we decide will replace the EMA (European Medicines Agency) can be set up and start to function.

As time goes on, the will to execute Brexit will drain away. Especially with the small kerfuffles which will occur from time to time, when people realise what actual impact Brexit will have. This week there has been uproar that cities in the UK have been ruled out of the competition for European Capital of Culture 2023. To my mind, the loss of this title is a trifling matter when we consider what else will need to be changed in the new Brexitopia. Maybe, though, small matters like these are tangible & understandable examples which people can grasp as a sign of what is to come?

For instance, the company I work for is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. Because “passporting” will be lost, we will have to choose a country in the EU to have our European Headquarters, and we will have to work with the financial regulator in that country. But the regulator won’t want to talk to a shell company, when the strings are being pulled in London. So we will have to duplicate our legal Counsel team, and our Risk team, and incur costs which would be unnecessary without Brexit. To my mind, that is a more substantial concern than whether a city is called “European Capital of Culture” for a temporary period.

With the extended timeframes given to Brexit, public interest will wane, and it may be that the opportunity will come to revisit the referendum. In my view, the 2016 referendum would have to be nullified by a second referendum. If Parliament voted against Brexit without going back to the people, they would be accused of ignoring “the will of the people”, despite the facts that it was a 52-48 split, and only 37% of the voting public voted for Brexit. So either we have a second referendum, or possibly Labour could stand on a manifesto cancelling Brexit – if they got elected, then they could maybe put a stop to it. I know that Labour’s current stance is pro-Brexit, but I don’t think they are as dedicated to the cause as some of the right-wing free market fundamentalists occupying the Tory backbenches.

Let’s see how it goes, eh? Although the battle which was the referendum was lost, I don’t the war is over just yet.

TTFN.

Thursday 17-11-09 Farewell Priti Patel

So. Farewell Priti Patel. Yesterday was quite an exciting day from a political observer’s point of view. There was the anticipation of the sacking / resignation, accompanied by numerous updates on the present location of the plane carrying her back from Uganda, and then live footage of the three-car procession heading into central London.

Luckily it was a bit of a slow day in the office; the servers or network (or both?) were unresponsive, and so I had time to take my fill of reaction on Twitter and the continuous updates on the Guardian Politics Blog. By home time, I was up to speed with events.

By then, I was starting to feel a little sorry for Priti, as pretty much the eyes of the world were on her. In her position I would have felt claustrophobic, even paranoid, but then I guess I haven’t decided to thrust myself into the limelight in that way. It can’t have been enjoyable though. But, you live by the sword, and you die by the sword, and so the method of her metaphorical execution was just as public, and probably more so, as any of her successes.

It’s a slight disappointment to me, I had 25p on her to be the next PM, so I guess that’s £5 I’ll never see. I placed the bet on the logic that if such a terrible event happened, I would want to benefit in some way before everything collapsed. By the same logic, I also bet that the UK population would vote for Brexit. But I’m sure there will be some other way for me to get my money back, and it’s not over yet. Now that she’s returned to the back benches, what odds might there be on her launching a “stalking horse” campaign to unseat the PM? Hmm, who knows?

So, Westminster continues to serve up entertainment of the highest order, and I shall continue to gawk in wonder at the shameless self-promotion and  blundering of our political classes. Next up, if we’re lucky, the spotlight may fall on Boris Johnson and his successes and lack thereof as Foreign Secretary. Pip pip!
TTFN

Friday 17-11-03 I Taking the Colour out of the Action Launcher Search Box

I love using the Action Launcher on my Android phone. But one thing has been nagging at me for a while now, and that was the colourised search bar. It stood out like a sore thumb and more often than not disrupted my homescreen:



I finally worked it out this morning. After nearly tweeting at Chris Lacy, the Action Launcher Dev, I thought to myself that there must be a way to do it. So I went into the launcher settings yet again and looked at the Quickbar settings, below:



Tapping on "search logo" at the bottom brought up the following menu:



Where I was able to choose the "no colour" option.

Finally! As I mentioned, this had been bugging me for weeks! And following the same logic I was able to decolourise the voice search icon as well:



And above we see the final result. The search box is aligned with the time widget and in my eyes the overall effect is nicer.

So that's my win for today.

TTFN.

Sunday 17-10-29 I A Bluetooth Problem fixed

Sunday 17-10-29 I A Bluetooth Problem fixed

 

I have a natty little Samsung Tab E that I should make more of, and I also acquired a Samsung bluetooth keyboard (EE-BT550) a while ago - my plan was to use them together to take quick notes and write quick blogposts as & when the need took me. As you can see from the sporadic entries in this blog, I’ve not quite mastered the art of that, but I have a few thoughts roiling around in this sparsely-populated head of mine.

Anyway, I got up this morning, made a cup of tea and prepared the tablet and keyboard. The Youngest was in the living room watching YouTube or somesuch without headphones and I didn’t want to be driven mad by mindless drivel at such an early stage in the day. So I tried to pair the tablet and keyboard, without success. After many times trying to enter the passcode given by the tablet, I realised it wasn’t going to work. The tablet was timing out even before I could tap in the six-digit code, and even when I did, the tablet was telling me that the passcode was wrong.

Then I thought outside the box a bit, and wondered how I could isolate the problem. I tried pairing the keyboard to my phone, and could do that. I fished out a second keyboard and could pair that to the tablet. So eventually, I was none the wiser. Both the tablet and the keyboard could pair, just not with each other. Then I had a doubt; I’d rooted the tablet a while ago, could that be having some impact? I knew that the ROM I’d installed was supposed to be stock with root and SuperUser access, but sometimes not all functionality is replicated fully. So I started looking into how to return to stock, and I found a guide which suggested using Odin and a downloaded stock ROM. The trouble was that it looked like it was going to take more than an hour to download the ROM, and then there was no guarantee that I’d picked the right one for my tablet. So I installed Kies instead, and hooked up my tablet to the PC. It guided me to install Smart Switch, but eventually I was able to re-initialise the tablet and install official stock software. Then I tried to pair my Bluetooth keyboard again, and I could manage it. So I think that maybe I chose the nuclear option, and maybe I didn’t need to unroot and re-install stock firmware, but it might have been the fact that I had a custom recovery installed that was throwing the Bluetooth out.

Anyway, now I can pair and type away to my heart’s content. Will it happen? Probably not, but who knows.

TTFN.

Monday 17-10-23 Brexit October Update I

I received my quarterly reminder to update this blog the other day, otherwise known as my GoDaddy invoice. I had been humming and hawing about writing something, but each time I got to it, I couldn't see that what I'd put down on paper was worthwhile and so I deleted it.

Mostly I've been following Brexit developments, and getting more & more worried. We seem to have gone from a situation where we were promised that "it would be easy to get a trade deal with the EU, after all they need to sell us BMWs and prosecco" [writer's note: most of the UK consumption of prosecco seems to happen in our house, I admit, but I don't have and have never bought a BMW] to "actually, no deal wouldn't be so bad, we can rely on WTO rules".

Some research has been done into that latter proposition and it turns out that only one country in the world relies solely on WTO rules and that country is Mauritania. But in an update to that article, it would seem that even Mauritania enjoy preferential trade terms from some developed nations, which means that there is no country that relies solely on WTO rules to trade. So those separatist headbangers who want to leave the EU under any circumstances seem to be "misrepresenting the actualite" when they say that there would be no issue with resorting to WTO rules.

Looking at the list of podcasts I listen to, it would seem that most of my free time is taken up listening to Brexit updates. I am subscribed to several Brexit podcasts, including the following:

Remainiacs: This is probably my favourite Brexit-based podcast. Hosted by Dorian Lynskey (the Guardian), Peter Collins (ex- of the Economist) and Ian Dunt (editor of politics.co.uk and author of “Brexit – What the Hell Happens Now?”). I really like their approach and it’s a good listen.

Brexit Means: This is the Guardian’s weekly Brexit update, and it’s okay, but I will probably bin it off soon.

Brexitcast: This is the BBC’s weekly Brexit update, it is a bit light-hearted, the two hosts take the mickey out of each other somewhat, but it is informative. More often than not they have Laura Kuenssberg on to talk about the politics of Brexit, and let’s face it, it is all about politics.

UK in a Changing Europe: This is a more right-wing take on Brexit, I think, although I’m not overly familiar with it just yet. The two episodes I listened to have been a) Jacob Rees-Mogg addressing the Tory conference fringe and b) Yvette Cooper and Diane Abbott addressing the Labour conference fringe. But the first episode was with a Times journalist, so I think it’s coming from that direction.

Brexit Podcast: This is probably the most open-minded Brexit-related podcast I listen to. Tim Heming and Jennifer Hahn do a good job of asking questions and letting the guests do the talking. They have had Patrick Minford and Alistair Campbell, Henry Bolton (new UKIP leader) and Gina Millar all in to talk about their understanding of Brexit. The one issue I have with this podcast is that many of the interviews seem to be done over the phone and so the sound is not the best.

 

So that is what is keeping me awake mostly (not that I listen to them in bed or at night).

Saturday 17-09-30 I There are two types of people...

I saw this and it made me chuckle:



so I thought I'd share...

Sunday 17-09-17 Weekend Taxi Driver

Before the weekend, a friend suggested I would be acting as a taxi driver for my family for the weekend. At the time, I laughed and shrugged it off, but now looking back, that feels like all I've done, for the weekend...

• At 9am yesterday morning, I took TY to gymnastics. I did run while she was vaulting and balancing on the beam, but it was a bit early.


• At 10am we drove home.


• At 1pm I drove TW into work, she needed to be there for a couple of hours.


• At 1:40pm I drove TMO to her friend's house, she was having a sleepover.


• At 3:10 pm I drove to pick TW up from work.


• At 6:20pm I drove TW to a party she was attending.

Today we were invited to rugby practice at Hove so:

• At 09:20 I drove to pick up TMO from her sleepover,


• At 09:30 I drove the family to Hove,


• At 12:20 I drove to B&Q in Shoreham,


• At 12:50 I drove to Maccy D's in Shoreham (my favourite drive of the weekend),


• At 13:40 I drove home.

I went and bought a bottle of wine and have been enjoying that for the last 90 minutes, so I won't be doing any more driving this weekend. Phew!

Saturday 17-09-09 Teresa May & the Tory Leadership

Just as I was about to write that the clamour for Teresa May to resign seemed to have receded, this article pops up in The Guardian. At the beginning of the summer the atmosphere seemed to be taut, and the threat that everything would fall apart seemed to be very real. I think all political commentators and spectators were anticipating/dreading "an event" of some kind, which would lead to May's resignation and a fresh General Election.

Now that the new parliamentary session has started, it seems that the majority of the Tory party have fallen into line; they know that if they cause a fuss then that could lead to a Corbyn premiership. But there does seem to be some activity; the European Research Group are flexing their muscle, and some elements (either ironically or in earnest) seem to be agitating for Jacob Rees-Mogg for PM.

We are heading for conference season, which is a great opportunity for all the movers and shakers to get together and conspire against the current leadership, or maybe they might take the opportunity to unite behind Teresa May? but that would be dull, and since she is seen as a "lame duck", that would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Probably the leadership race will be triggered by something seemingly inconsequential, like for instance the current attempt to pack the committees with Tory majorities. Or the "Great Repeal Bill", which has now been renamed the European Union (withdrawal) Bill, may be a source of consternation among MPs, and if enough vote against it, that could lead to a vote of confidence in the current government - but that is unlikely. Still, some MPs will feel like they're stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, and they will have to hold their nose to vote for the Bill. At a later stage, resentment towards the govt. for putting them in this position may boil over into rebellion, we will have to wait and see.

I think it's still an interesting time to be a watcher of politics, and I look forward to catching up with the next showings of Question Time, Westminster Hour and Today in Parliament. I am sure there will be more developments soon...

TTFN.

Sunday 17-08-20 At The Edge of The Sea II

[caption id="attachment_726" align="alignnone" width="300"] The wristband, preserved for posterity.[/caption]

If Friday was the entree, then yesterday was the full three course dinner. Maybe it was more like a gourmet tasting menu, as we had a variety of bite-sized courses, all of which were quite different and attractive in their own way.

Yes, we were back to The Concorde II for the "mini-festival" that was At The Edge of The Sea (ATEOTS). Now into its 9th year, ATEOTS is curated by David Gedge and a guaranteed way to see The Wedding Present. There are always a variety of bands playing, and this year was no exception.

Last year we wandered in late and realised that we had missed Cinerama - we weren't going to make that mistake again! In fact we nearly got there too early - M turned up at the railway station an hour early, but managed to spend some quality time in The Green Man waiting for D & me.  I snuck in a pint as well, and then we headed to Brighton.

We got into the venue in time to see Ellie Ford play the harp and sing, she was brilliant and it was a great way to start the day. Then it was into the main room for Cinerama, David Gedge's side project. I had only heard one or two of their songs years ago on the John Peel Show, and I was looking forward to seeing them. Not knowing any of the songs was a bit of a drawback, but "Get Up & Go" and "Health & Efficiency" stood out for me. I think it gave the lyrics the chance to breathe. During the performance I looked around and actually the place seemed quite busy; it seemed like most of the people there had had the same idea as us, that they didn't want to miss Cinerama. Actually it was quite impressive, considering it was 4pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon...

Next up were The Sleazoids who were pretty good; they played tight and energetic garage punk, and the guitarist was a previous member of The Wedding Present. Their set was good, and I intend to look them up on Soundcloud when I get a chance...

We returned to the main room to see Scare Taxi, who are the new band of one of the former members of These Animal Men. They were okay, they made a good noise and they were tight, but it wasn't for me. Their finale though was a cover of "Tainted Love" which was brilliantly unhinged, and they were worth seeing for that alone.

Then it was time for Jade Inland, who weren't my cup of tea. By that time we were getting a bit hungry, and so we missed The Popguns and went to Yellowave Cafe for some vegetarian chilli (D & M) and some veggie nachos for me.

We got back in time to see Flowers, who reminded me a bit of Royal Blood, in that they were a tight power pop outfit, although Flowers are a trio rather than a duo, and obvs the Flowers vocals are completely different. But I stand by my assertion that the vibe is similar, and I'm willing to take on anybody who disagrees (aside: I'm not at all willing to do that).

The Charlie Tipper Conspiracy were okay but didn't float my boat, but I did admire Helen McCookerybook, not only was she a good singer but she kept time really well. A silly thing to notice I suppose, but considering that she was performing solo with an acoustic guitar, the songs she performed had various and interesting rhythms.

The crowd really thinned out from 6pm to 8pm, I reckon a lot of people left the venue to get a bite to eat. Actually it's probably worth saying that even aged 45 I felt like one of the youngest people there. Obviously there were a few 20-somethings at the venue, but really the average age must have been 45+. So people were being sensible and lining their stomachs, or taking a break. I could see that a number of people still at the gig were flagging (as was I) and I guess we were just holding on until Gedge was back onstage with The Wedding Present.

That came around soon enough, after a French version of the Laughing Gnome, and another raffle controversy - for the second year running, the main prize had to be redrawn, since the original winner wasn't present. The Wedding Present featuring the new bass player and additional keyboard players took the stage at 8:30 pm more or less precisely, as per the planned running order, and launched into "Going, Going". The opening tracks were enticing and languid, before launching into the usual Wedding Present fayre of heavy guitars and remorseful lyrics; not that I am denigrating that at all, that is what we love about TWP. I'm just pointing out that on this album Gedge held back for the first couple of tracks before giving us what we have come to expect. I don't own the album but on the force of this performance I think I shall buy it; stand out tracks for me were "Bear" and "Little Silver" in particular, and I also liked the closing two tracks for the mellow (comparatively) vibe.

They finished off with three poppy tracks which caused a bit of moshing, the last of which was the only one I recognised - "Brassneck". It was brilliant and probably worth the entire day's attendance, even if none of the other performances were any good - which wasn't the case.

Thinking back over the whole day, I kind of realised that TWP / Gedge is a noisenik; that is, a lot of the bands performing are loud and noisy and maybe aren't as directed and focused as TWP are. Seven hours is a long time to spend in a venue, and ten acts is quite a number to see in one day. I was quite tired by the end of it, but enthused by a couple of performances, Cinerama and The Wedding Present being the highlights I think, along with probably Flowers. The rest were interesting to see but I probably would only pay to see Sleazoids again, from the rest of the line-up. We'll have to wait and see who agrees to play next year, but these two years may have been enough for me.