CTRL P and the rise of the cash till ... Thursday 17th Oct

Is summer back? I wish. Although as I walk down to the library this morning with the sun on my back, I can dream. All my IT queries in the library at the moment seem to relate to printing. Mrs P suggested I do an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) sheet. But as I said, it is only one question 90% of the time, and the answer is usually, “Press CTRL P.” That or turn it off and turn it on again.

I spend the afternoon doing the housework. So being a House Husband in other words. Then getting the eldest’s tea ready early, as she was off out to do her dance show. Then getting tea ready for Mrs P the youngest and me. Followed by cleaning up afterwards. So what you might imagine a House Husband should be doing.

In the evening Mrs P and I take an evening perambulation, needing to pass the cash till at the local HSBC. We are somewhat surprised to see the front of the bank is boarded up. That is until we remember seeing in the local paper that there was an unsuccessful attempt to liberate the ATM last weekend. Bit of a pain though as it’s the cash till we prefer to use. Not that there aren’t options. Within 100m there are four other cash tills, in either mini/super-markets, or post offices, or petrol stations. Somebody must be making money from them. Funny thing about cash, if I have it I spend it, but if I don’t have any I can get by fine. I can't help wondering though where all these cash tills are coming from.

Yours counting the cash tills.

Jay

Its raining dance shows ... Wednesday 16th Oct

With the anticipated deluge today, I decide that rather than trying to impersonate Noah, I’ll get an early start on the paper round and try to beat the rain. To that end I’m loaded up early and out of the house hot on the heels of Mrs P and the teenagers. In an effort to ensure swift progress I decide to forgo the likable distractions of my radio, and just get on with delivering papers. Quicker than normal I’m finished and home before the rain, and to make matters better the washing is drying well on the line outside. As a small celebration I sit down with a mug of coffee, only to look out of the window and see that the heavens have well and truly opened. Dashing out to rescue the washing off the line, I inevitably get slightly soaked. Typical! However 30 minutes in the dryer and the washing is sorted and I’ve got a nice pile of ironing to do.

Mrs P and I spend the evening at a local theatre, where the eldest is appearing in a dance show. She has been doing these type of shows in various guises for 12 years now, and tonight and tomorrow will be her last. The show is excellent, and despite being ever so slightly biased, I think the eldest is wonderful. Mrs P and I are both surprised to see her cartwheeling across the stage at one point, something of a first. As ever with these shows the very young ones provide the laughs albeit unintentionally, and we can remember when the eldest was one of the young ones. It only seems like yesterday.

Yours with happy memories.

Jay

Technical confusion and football joy ... Tuesday 15th Oct

The sun is out, albeit weakly. However, this fires me with enough of a positive attitude that I find myself sorting out things early this morning. Things that have been waiting to be attended to for a while now. Included in these activities is learning what Google + is, and how to use it, to its full potential. After a while I decide it might possibly be a step too far in its entirety, at the moment.

Putting Google + aside I go round to see the old fellow, who is having some difficulty with his Kobo eReader. Every time he puts more than one book on it, the oldest ones stop opening! I’ve tried a couple of things and went for a different reset this morning which disabled all the books! I think it must be a problem between the Kobo eReader and Adobe Digital Editions software. However as every time I try a different solution it goes wrong, at the moment I’m loath to uninstall and reinstall the software in case everything gets lost. The folks are off on hols (again!) next week. If the old fellow can get a few books on to the eReader for then, I’ll just leave it alone until they get back. I am not having a great day with technology today.

I manage to get through the ironing, make tea and clean up after it. Thereby displaying some, house husbandry skills, today. England are playing what will hopefully be their final World Cup qualifying game tonight, and whilst I am somewhat out of love with the national team, I certainly want them to be at the World Cup next summer. So it is I’m anticipating a nervous evening sat behind the newspaper, hoping they don’t blow it against Poland. The spectre of 1973 still lurks in the national football fans psyche.

Well that was an exciting ninety minutes of play, and the good news is England are going to Brazil. 2-0 winners on the night, though with the second only two minutes from time, it made for a tense game.

Yours working on my samba beat.

Jay

Heating, cakes and imagination ... Monday 14th Oct

Another Monday. Another week. I don’t know about you but as the temperatures fall, it can be harder for me to find that get up and go in the morning. Today is definitely one of those days, when my get up and go, has got up and gone. In the Perry household we have not yet succumbed to putting on the heating for the winter. Just an hour or two in the evening, if instructed by Mrs P. I have seen it written that it is more cost effective to have your heating on permanently at a low heat, than for large bursts at higher heats in the morning and evenings. It sounds counter-intuitive to me that having the heating on longer will cost less, but perhaps it’s something I need to try to see if it works. The danger is if it doesn’t work my heating bills go sky high, but on the flip-side if it does they go down. An interesting conundrum for me to mull over.

Mrs P and I have our weekly race around the supermarkets this morning. The earlier we get there the quieter it is. Though I have also noticed the free cakes for tasting on the deli tend to come out later in the day. I guess that’s when the crowds sre in. Fortunately today they had some chocolate brownies out early, so that snack kept me going. Well it kept me going back anyway, as I seemed to pass the deli counter at every given opportunity. “Free cakes”. It sounds like a good slogan for a political party to me. Though maybe the overtone of Marie Antoinette’s alleged comment, “Let them eat cake”, would strike the wrong note.

Having finished the book I was reading, and enjoying, last week, and as a consequence reading the weekends papers this weekend (as opposed to through the week as normal), I’ve dipped into the series of Inspector Morse books Mrs P bought me a couple of years ago. Every time I find myself wondering what to read next I pull out the next one in the Morse series and away I go. Even though I’ve probably seen the book dramatised on TV, and so may have an idea what is going to happen. The book gives you so much more. To me 99% of the time the book is better than the film. I think it’s the ability to create pictures in your mind. Where TV shows you what it looks like, books let you use your imagination. I think it goes hand in hand with my day dreaming.

Yours warming up for winter.

Jay

The art of no conversation ... Friday 11th Oct

After waving off Mrs P and the teenagers this morning I pop round to the outlaws to pick up some hedge cutters. It’s time to put the garden to bed for the winter. I have a cup of tea and a chat with the outlaws, then its back home and out into the garden.

I usually do the front and back hedges twice a year. May and October, is enough to keep them tidy and under control. Though I did have to take the top off mid-summer this year, as they were growing so well. I do the front and bag it up, as well as sweeping up the leaves that have fallen recently. The council tip is only five minutes away and so two journeys today, one for the front and one for the back should suffice. As we refused to pay £35 to the council to empty the garden bin, I reckon even with half-a-dozen trips a year to the tip we’re well in credit. At the tip I say only two words to the guy pointing you to the right skip, and they are “garden rubbish.” After lunch I do the back hedge plus various shrubs. Using the electric hedge cutters is a bit over the top on the shrubs, but very quick and satisfying. I take the view if they survive great, if not we’ll plant something else. Then it’s back to the tip, where I don’t speak to anyone this time.

When the teenagers come in from school, I estimate that from my cup of tea with the outlaws this morning, in the following six hours I’ve only spoken two words to another person, and they were “garden rubbish,” and so hardly count as a conversation. It makes me think about people who live alone and don’t get out much, especially the elderly, and how difficult it must sometimes be for them. Here’s to growing old with someone. Mrs P had better watch out, she’s stuck with me for the foreseeable future.

Yours practising the art of conversation.

Jay

Time moves on ... Thursday 10th Oct

The wind was up this morning and so I put on a coat to walk down to the library. This added to Mrs P putting the heating on for the odd  in the evening, makes me think winter is on the way. But let’s enjoy autumn first I say. I manage to read most of the weekend papers I haven’t read yet in the morning, and am actually called on to help a couple of people with IT queries as well. Not quite working for a living, but then again I don’t.

 I spend the afternoon doing the housework. Dusting, vacuuming and ironing; before the teenagers come in from school. We then sit down with cups of tea and juice, and we watch a bit of TV together. On Demand TV is great for re-watching the series you enjoy, or missed. In this case we’re watching old series of Doctor Who.

After getting tea ready handy, Mrs P, the eldest and myself are off to her parents evening. Her last ever parents evening. Something of a landmark. Being sixth form we have only five teachers to see, but you still get the queuing and waiting, because the teachers seem to spend longer talking when they have fewer pupils to see. Mrs P and I leave pleased with the teachers’ reports, but slightly melancholy as it feels like something has gone. Time has moved on.

Yours not wanting the teenagers to grow up too fast.

Jay

A good book and autumn leaves ... Wednesday 9th Oct

 

I decide to get an early start with delivering the weekly papers today, and apart from a quick rain shower it’s a pleasant, if breezy, early autumn morning. I get home in time to grab the washing in off the line just as another rain shower hits. Five minutes later it’s stopped, and I wonder whether to hang the washing back out. This becomes a running theme throughout the day, and I find myself putting the same washing in and out all afternoon. The additional problem is the wind that is now blowing is dropping not only the leaves off the trees, but also small seeds that find their way through the back door every time I open it. This means I spend a lot of time sweeping up.

I sit down with a nice cup of coffee or two, and finish the book I’ve been reading. The sun is coming in the window and it’s a pleasant hour. I’ve enjoyed the book and it’s been left open at the end for a follow-up which is something to look forward to.

I spend the rest of the afternoon sorting out old paperwork, stuff that really can be disposed of, doing the ironing (eventually the washing got dried) and getting tea on the table. As my leg has recovered I join Mrs P for an evening stroll. The leaves are coming down and make a satisfying crunch under our feet, autumn has arrived.

Yours reading for pleasure.

Jay