Thursday 18th Jul

Back to IT duties at the library this morning. Having thrown some bacon on the barbecue for the youngest and I for breakfast, primarily to reduce the amount of washing up required, but also to increase the flavour; it’s a warm stroll down the road. It’s quiet this morning. Maybe the heat has put off the clientele, and they’re all at home sunning in the garden. Alternatively, they could have stayed in to watch the Open golf and the Ashes cricket on telly.

I stop by the folks for a cuppa and the old fella is settled in to embark on four days of golf watching. Like many of his friends will be.

I drop the eldest’s laptop off at the local repair shop after lunch, where the chap expects it to be corrupted files based on what I tell him. I return home to some cleaning and an enormous pile of ironing. An hour and a half later I get a text telling me the laptop is fixed. Turns out it was a security programme causing the problem, and so that has now been removed. You live and learn, and hopefully I’ll know for next time.

The ironing is only slowly going down, but fortunately I have the sport on telly to keep me company. The youngest returns home sweating and dirty, having been on a sponsored walk with school today. So he’s quite happy for a teenage boy.

After getting tea ready for Mrs P’s return I tidy up, and then sort out some email and papers. It’s strange when one of the teenagers is not at home. It doesn’t feel right. But the reality is in 14 months if the eldest goes off to university, this is a taste of things to come.

Yours, seeing the future.

Jay