Sad News

I was at Camphill yesterday (Tuesday) when one of the guys discovered the sad news that Nicholas Parson had died, at the grand old age of 96. I love 'Just A Minute,' which he was chairman of for 52  years and remember clearly it starting in 1967. Radio Four has been a major part of my life. My family always had it on (previously called the Home Service, until they introduced Radio One in 1967, as a replacement to pirate radio which the government outlawed that year.) It's first episode was broadcast on 22nd December 1967. In fact, a mere three months after the station's launch. The basic premise of the show was that contestants have to talk for one minute on a given subject, 'without hesitation, repetition or deviation,' Contestants who appeared on the show included Derek Nimmo, Paul Merton, Kenneth Williams, Sheila Hancock, Graham Norton, Beryl Reid, Gyles Brandreth, Andree Melly, Sue Perkins, Tim Rice, Wendy Richard, Peter Jones who is perhaps best known as the voice of The Book in the Douglas Adams radio series 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' and many more.

It's such a simple format for a game and radio is the best place for it. There was a television version, but, frankly, because it is so speech-based, the fact that television is visual, there's really no point in it being done on television. The shows theme music is Chopin's piano waltz in D flat major, No 1, nicknamed the "Minute Waltz," although it does actually last a good deal longer than one minute, the nickname refers to "minute" as in 'small,' rather than a unit of time.

Nicholas Parsons was also a compere for the ITV gameshow, 'Sale of The Century,' which was produced at the Anglia Television studios in Norwich. I have to come clean and tell you that I secretly wrote in to Anglia to suggest my mother as a contestant. She got a letter, inviting her to audition. I didn't go with her, but she had to go to Cambridge (if my memory serves.) and went with my Aunt Gemma (although I would have loved to have gone.) She wasn't, unfortunately chosen. It would have been great if she had. I think possibly she was too clever for this particular gameshow.

Radio 4 is a unique station. As I've mentioned above it was called the Home Service up until 1967, when the BBC introduced Radio 1 and the Light Programme transformed into Radio 3 and the Third Programme became, imaginatively, Radio 3. Radio 4 is a speech-based station which schedules news, drama, comedy and documentaries which would never be produced or heard elsewhere. There is no commercial station which compares. You won't hear anything similar anywhere. I would say that the chance of it being replicated as a commercial station is highly unlikely, being funded by the television licence (why no radio licence?) A good reason for protecting this as a funding model and a definite 'brick' in the Public Service remit (ie- The core values of the BBC, going back to it being set up under Lord Reith in 1922,  'to inform, educate and entertain.) I think Radio 4 was instrumental in my having an interest in literature and probably theatre. I listened to many of there adaptations of books and plays which were, and still are, broadcast by the station. In some ways I think I prefer radio to television, particularly with drama, where the words are so important. As someone said, and I don't know who it was, the 'scenery is better,' or words to that effect. Many sitcoms have been produced by Radio 4, and quite a few have then been transferred to television, perhaps the most famous being 'Hancock's Half Hour,' which began life on radio in the 1950's and eventually transferred to television. Radio is a good place for more surreal comedy, because, with the use of sound effects, suggests more in the mind than with visual humour. The most surreal comedy of performers and writers such as Spike Milligan, made use of radio with shows such as the ground-breaking 'Goon Show,' which kick-started the careers of not only Milligan but also Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe. I was introduced to the Goons by a friend who I met when doing an A Level course at what was then Mander College in around 1967-8. His father had been a fan when the show was first aired in the 1950s and apparently recorded these episodes when they were broadcast, on to reel-to-reel tape. My friend, John, used to visit me at home and bought some of these reel-to-reel tapes with him. I had become interested in tape recording (a good many years before the introduction of cassette tapes.) because a teacher when I was at Rushmoor School, had a tape recorder and I became intrigued by the fact that you could record your voice and edit material that you had recorded. Anyway, a lot of those 'Goon' episodes were transferred onto cassette and would have been the first time I had heard them and was hooked, probably because of the wacky, surreal nature of the shows, the amazing sound effects, some created by the then infant BBC Radiophonic Workshop (no, sadly defunct.) which went on to produce many of the sound effects on such BBC shows as 'Doctor Who,' and 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.' I was also introduced to 'Hancock's Half-Hour' and I suspect other radio classics such as 'Round The Horn,' 'I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again.' I bought a Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder from a teacher at the next school I went to when I left Rushmoor, further expanding my experience of recording and then editing. This experience came in useful when I eventually got work in stage management, being able to then make up tapes of sound effects which I used to compile whilst working as, first, a student A.S.M. at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, and later, as a fully-fledged D.S.M. at Ipswich Theatre in the early 1970's.  Amazing to think that the memories of one thing sparks off different things and how one person, a teacher, could set in train so many different interests which still carry on today.

Signs Of Spring?

We have had some really cold weather lately, but nothing really freezing, no snow or anything even close to the winter weather we had at this time of year from only a couple of years ago. The car has had ice on it's windows, early in the morning, but nothing to get too concerned about. It must be relatively mild for the time of year because there is blossom on some trees around Oldbrook. I imagine it's almond, but I can't be sure. (I've done a Google search and have learnt that's it's cherry blossom.) There are bulbs coming up in the communal garden at Dexter House and I've seen snowdrops out on the opposite side of Oldbrook Green which I've seen when I've taken Alfie out. There are buds on trees, meaning that those trees are about produce leaves. But, no doubt if there is a sudden, sharp frost, all these will be killed off.

(Saturday) Another rather dull and over-cast day. I've been to Sainsbury's to buy food to top up the freezer. It's best to go early, because you can get in and out easily.

(Tuesday) I've ordered the shelf unit for the kitchen on Amazon. It will take the microwave and other items which don't currently have a home. I haven't been able to use the microwave because where it currently sits there is no spare power point because the fridge/freezer uses the one where it sits at the moment. The new unit will stand on the opposite kitchen wall where there is a power point.

The Frog statue near the 

Grand Union Canal near Camphill

I went to Camphill as usual. We had two young girls come in from Denmark and watch the rehearsal during the morning.  I'm not sure what they made of the rehearsal, but they made some really positive comments. One of the co-workers, who comes from Brazil, was leaving, which was rather sad as she's really thrown herself into everything she does. So many people come from various places around the world, Japan, Brazil and Denmark, making Camphill a truly international organisation. We did a line run and I stood in for one of the guys who never seems to come during the morning. We then did a proper run and because there was more training after lunch, we went for a walk. We did this the other week and I didn't realise that the Grand Union Canal was so close. We walked down one side and got to what is termed The Frog Bridge. I've never walked along this part of the canal and the Frog (which is actually a wooden sculpture of probably a frog or a toad) was sitting on a bench. We all gathered around and photos were taken. I took one on my iPhone. We walked along the opposite side of the canal and then back into the Camphill campus.

Because there was training for the residents after lunch in the Chrysalis Theatre and therefore no further drama workshop, I went home. When I got back home I took Alfie out for a walk around Oldbrook Green. As it was bright sunshine it seemed a reasonable excuse and he doesn't need much encouraging to go for a walk.

(Wednesday) I was informed that the shelf unit for the kitchen would arrive sometime today, but when exactly I was not told, but possibly before 8p.m. It eventually came mid-afternoon. A fairly large parcel. Well, what else was I expecting? I have been spending the evening endeavouring to assemble the thing. Not too difficult, but the worst part is the bolts which hold the thing together and the fact that you have to use an Allan Key to tighten each bolt. The problem is that you can't turn the L-shaped 'Key' in the top of each bolt (or are they screws?) in a complete circuit, which means you have to keep removing it and putting it back in so as to tighten each screw, which takes a lot of time and patience. It would be better to have something like a proper screwdriver which would mean you could keep the device in the screw without keeping on removing it. A lot of patience is required and kneeling on the floor isn't comfortable, to say the least. I have almost completed the assembly, but will complete the job tomorrow morning. I think it would have been an easier job if I'd had someone to help, for example, to hold each shelf in place when I am attempting to tighten the screws, putting the screw in the hole in the top of each shelf and then aligning the other end with the hole in the metal frame. Not an easy task.

Foggy Day

(Wednesday)It was foggy as I went out with Alfie a little after 7.30 this morning. You could see the buildings in the city centre quite clearly across Oldbrook Green. Then I went to Sainsbury's to collect a repeat prescription and buy one of two other items, and on my return I took Alfie out again and the fog was thicker than ever, this time I wasn't able to see those distant buildings. 

I have to report something which happened in Sainsbury's underground carpark. It was a little afer 9 when I arrived there so parking was relatively easy. I parked on the upper floor, against the back wall and the then went into the store. On returning to my car and putting my shopping in the rear of the car, a car was pulling out of the next space to mine. Then the woman in that vehicle drove in the opposite direction in which you are supposed to drive along the internal road but along the walk-way, the marked-off area along which you are supposed to walk and proceeded to park in a vacant space. Firstly, this was incredibly dangerous, as she could have had an accident with a car driving in the right direction, and why move from a parking space she was already in and move elsewhere? No sense at all.

(Thursday) The awful fridge/freezer, which let me down terribly when it defrosted overnight about a month ago, leaving me with a load of wasted food which had to be binned, has now gone to the tidy-tip in Bleak Hall. Barbara, the new SHO (Supported Housing Officer) at Dexter House, helped me carry it out to the car earlier this morning. When I got to the tidy-tip I got a member of staff to help remove it from the back of the car. I was expecting to have to help, but he was able to carry it unaided. I would never have managed it on my own. Well, that's now gone, another box ticked. I now have to find some sort of unit to take it's place, in the kitchen, opposite the oven. I think I have found something suitable on Amazon, and should have space to take the microwave and have space to store other things which at present have no home.

I have moved doctor's surgeries. If you've read my earlier posts you will be well aware of my dissatisfaction with Ashfield Medical Centre. I had been told that CMK was a good and reliable surgery (Central Milton Keynes Medical Centre). It is based in Bradwell Common and opposite Aldi, so when I went to Aldi last week I thought it a good idea to enquire about transferring there and I am living within their catchment area, so I decided to get the paperwork and went home and filled it in over the weekend and found the identity that I would need, something with my home address on, so I took my photos Driving Licence with me on Monday and took everything with me. having h anded over the paperwork, duly filled in, dated and signed, I was expecting that it would be a couple of weeks before I got my welcome letter. It came yesterday, surprisingly, and a doctor has been assigned. I had to go back to the surgery to get a password for their on-line booking, which is exactly the same as that used by Ashfield. I had the password and have now got it set up. I also got a doctor's appointment booked for Friday 31st January, for a provisional discussion with my assigned doctor. Hopefully I can continue to use Lloyd's pharmacy in Sainsbury's to have my repeat prescriptions made up as I know the staff in their and trust them to do a good job, which makes a lot of sense. As for the doctor's at Ashfield? Sorry, no.

Cleaning The Flat

I've been in the flat since October and I'm gradually getting the place as I want it. It does take quite a while to adjust things so they are more how I like them, such as arranging the furniture to where the most used items in the kitchen are stored. There is a shortage of space, so I will need a new unit in the kitchen. I have to remove the stupid fridge/freezer which let me down when it defrosted a couple of months ago and as a result I had to throw away all the food in it. I will need assistance to take it in the car to the recycling centre in Bleak Hall. I intend buying some sort of unit to replace it which can take the microwave and have space to store kitchen equipment. I have seen the ideal unit on Amazon and will have to order it, but this can't be done until the fridge/freezer is taken out to make room.

When Carol and I lived at Golden Drive, we used a Vileda mop which had a build-in water supply which allowed you to mop and it had a built in spray system, meaning you didn't need to have a bucket of water when you were using it. So, I decided I would get a new one so I could keep the floors clean and sparkling in the flat. I went to look in Sainsbury's the other morning, as I imagine we purchased the original one from there. I was surprised by the price, so didn't buy it immediately from there until I'd done a search on the internet. To my surprise I didn't believe that the price could vary so much from one retail outlet to the other. Full price the thing costs in the region of £30, the lowest price being £14 at Dunelm. I decided to visit Dunelm, which is fairly close to Oldbrook, in the business estate at Winter Hill  Retail Park, in Milton Keynes. I found the Vileda display, which had most of their range of cleaning products, including mops, but not the particular type I wanted. Yesterday (Thursday) I decided to go on the Dunelm website and found you could purchase items and then 'click and collect,' so I did this to buy the  spray mop I wanted, using my Debit card. I was expecting it to be ready for collection in a couple of days, but barely an hour later I had a text message to say it was ready for collection, so I drove to Dunelm to collect it. All this is a rather crazy situation, that you can't pick it up within the store, but can buy it via the website. This would mean, surely, that they had the item I wanted in their warehouse at the store, and not on the store's floor. No doubt this is how retail is going to go. But I noticed they didn't have any staff on the floor of the store, who might have been able to assist me in checking whether the item I wanted was in stock.

(Saturday) I discovered that it was quite cold and frosty when I took Alfie out this morning. Ice on the windows of the car and I will definitely have to find my gloves and hat as the weather forecast is warning me that things are due to get even colder.

On a different matter. I was watching an item about social media on BBC Breakfast yesterday morning (it was about research being done by a university to find out how children use such sites as Facebook and the effects such things as bullying has on their mental health.) As a result I did a Google search (other search engines are available.) and found a list of some and one, called Nextdoor, which sounded as if it might be worth investigating. So I found it on-line and have signed up and find it works very differently to Facebook (which has far too much trivia and pointless stuff on it, including annoying advertising.) Having signed up and particularly the site for Oldbrook, I find a post about the lady I've mentioned in these blog posts who keeps stopping people and cars along Oldbrook Boulevard and asking for money. It would appear that other residents are concerned about her safety and why nothing is being done to deal with this issue.

A good deal later. I have been keeping a track of responses to the post on Nextdoor, regarding this woman who is constantly seen asking for money on Oldbrook Boulevard.  Someone has reported the woman to Milton Keynes Council Safeguarding Department, so perhaps something will be done this time. At least if they report this matter and it's logged, at least there is something in writing (well, one would hope so.) and they can deal with it. One can only hope that is what will happen.

Wild, Wet and Windy

(Tuesday)It's a wild and stormy day here in darkest Milton Keynes. Storm Brendan is battering the United Kingdom from the west and, going out with Alfie as I did early this morning, it took all my time and effort to remain standing upright. I took Alfie out for a second time at 1.30 and the wind was a good deal stronger. It's dustbin-day in this area and people had put their rubbish out for collection and some of it, mostly boxes and bags of rubbish, was being blown into the road. Someone along the road has obviously bought a Hitachi HD television (a smaller version of mine I have reason to suspect, along with a Henry vacuum cleaner, as indicated by the remaining wind-blown packaging. The other day some bright spark had dumped an old television in the side entrance to Dexter House. Could it be the same person who purchased the Hitachi television and dumped. More like, fly-tipped. the carton in the road? I think there may be a connection.)

Walking around Oldbrook Green there is paper and goodness knows what else being blown about by the wind. As the day has gone on, the wind seems to have got a good deal stronger. I took out Alfie again at around 1.30, but I don't think he appreciated the weather and tried his hardest to return home.

I didn't go to Camphill on Tuesday because I didn't feel 100%. A rather shaky feeling when I got up and horrible tingling in my feet.  It was rather like an electric shock, although quite mild. I don't know what's caused this, but probably some side-effect of the medication I'm on. I didn't think I was safe to drive the car, so I stayed in the flat. I need to discuss this with either a doctor, cardiologist or pharmacist.

(Wednesday) It's not so wild and wet outside this morning. The wind has dropped, thank goodness, and the rain has stopped.

I've been to put fuel in the car at the Shell station in Grafton Street. I've done well, because the last time I put in fuel was on Christmas Eve, on my way out of Milton Keynes, driving to Worcester for Christmas. It just shows how economical the Renault Captur is, being able to drive to Worcester and back as well as driving around Milton Keynes. Then I went to Sainsbury's and did a fairly large shop which means I have enough meals for a couple of weeks.

Went out with Alfie as soon as I'd unpacked my shopping and put it away. It was almost spring-like as we walked along Strudwick Drive. I have mentioned the amount of litter which has accumulated around the area, most around Oldbrook Green and, in particular, the litter bins. I did mention that this had been removed but today I again saw a couple of Council employees litter-picking, and one had a wheelbarrow with a black bin bag in for the litter. Why on earth people have to fling their litter on the ground I can't think. It seems it's usually the younger generation who do this, unfortunately. I always assumed that the youth of today were more environmentally aware than, say, my generation, but it would appear that this is not the case.

I went out with Alfie at around 2 o'clock this afternoon and no sooner had we got outside and in Dexter Avenue, walking towards Strudwick Drive, than the sound of a siren could be heard and within a few seconds a fire engine could be seen, moving, at great speed, towards Oldbrook Boulevard. I couldn't walk fast enough to get to the crossing onto Oldbrook Green, but I could see it turn left along Oldbrook Boulevard but by the time we reached the crossing it was well out of sight. No sign of smoke, so it was impossible to know where it was going. It could have been going to a fire, of course, but you have to remember that the fire service can go to other incidents, unrelated to fire.

As I walked along with Alfie, I followed a man in dark clothes carrying what looked like some sort of camera, with a sort of digital screen attached to it, rather like a smart phone. When he got to the green, near where men and boys kick a football into a goal, he put down the back pack he had on and it was clear that the device wasn't a camera, but the radio control of a drone. A few days ago I was again walking towards Oldbrook Green and I heard this high-pitched noise. It would be difficult to describe, but rather like something moving at speed, a bit like a sort of mechanical sound. As we got closer, I saw the small drone the man was operating. It flew up high into the sky and made a sort of insect-like sound, rather like a mosquito. It flew vertically and was quite scary and I don't think Alfie liked it. This afternoon it was being flown again and, as we got to the green, there was a flock of seagulls sitting on the grass and they flew up into the air and were scared off by the drone. We did our usual circuit of the Green, and by the time we got back to the crossing, I heard a sort of clunk sound and I think the drone crashed into the ground. Whether it got broken or not, I wasn't sure, but the speed it was going, up and down and then horizontally, I can assume that if it came down too quickly and the operator mis-judged the height,  and it must have crashed into the ground and therefore got broken.

I'm using my newly-acquired and up-dated Fire TV Stick. It has Alexa voice control built-in and 'she' will work if you press the button on the remote to operate the gadget. You have to wait for the blue line to appear at the top of the screen before 'she' will answer and do your bidding. You can call up apps which you download, such as YouTube, or else, if the thing is set up properly, play music from the Amazon Music store. I used to pay a monthly fee, but I cancelled it and now only have the free service which comes with Amazon Prime. Alexa will also play voice activated games, some based on television gameshows, such as Pointless, Deal Or No Deal or The Chase. But some of these only go so far and you can't complete them unless you pay a fee (which I haven't.), which means they can be a bit frustrating as you don't get to the final (if you manage to answer questions correctly.

Whodunnit . . . and Why?

The 'Who-done-it,' (or should it be spelt whodunnit?) is a format of many a television series, stage play film or radio drama. They seem to be a regular fixture in television schedules. What is it about them that makes them so popular, not only with schedulers and producers, but the general viewing public? Generally speaking, they have a familiar element to them, rather like a soap opera (EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale come to mind, but also the BBC Radio 4 Soap, The Archers, which, amazingly, celebrates it's 70th anniversary in 2020, making it the world's longest-running drama series.) Usually set it a familiar environment, a village, a closed society or environment, such as a railway train, stuck in a snowstorm or on a cruise liner, or most likely, a country house, usually isolated from the rest of the world, or an island. Then we have a relatively small group, many or even all are suspects in a murder and then the crime is solved by an outsider (usually) who has a knack of resolving the crime and will search for clues and interview all the suspects and eventually, at the climax of the show, reveal who the murderer is.

It amazes me that some of the locations in which these shows are set that nobody thinks it's strange, the number of murders which are committed. Just think of 'Midsummer Murders', which has been running for goodness knows how long, that there is a murder in that area of the country every week. Surely there's more than the average number of homicides than the rest of the United Kingdom? Why doesn't someone look it to such things? And would you choose to live in such a village if you knew that the murder statistics were above average? Would you avoid such a place? The same with the village in which the BBC1 daytime drama, 'Father Brown' is set, the almost cliched Cotswold village of Kembleford or the village in which Agatha Raisin lives in? Likewise, St Mary Mead, where Miss Marple resides? And what always gets me with these shows, how the detective just happens to be around not long after the murder occurs or at least, as soon as the body is discovered. How come whenever Poirot or Miss Marple goes on holiday, or visits a certain place, no soon have they turned up THAN THE MURDER TAKES PLACE and they are called upon to investigate. And often the amateur sleuths get in the way of the police, and usually manage to solve the crime before the professionals, who invariably get the culprit wrong! Their investigations are generally a total disaster and the amateur sleuth makes them look totally inept.

Most 'whodunnits' follow the same format, with usually the scene being set, in most cases in an enclosed environment, such as a country house, village, or as in the case of two of Agatha Christie's novels, a railway train (Murder on The Orient Express) or a cruise line on the River Nile (Death On The Nile), with the detective just coincidentally being around somewhere when the murder is discovered, then the bulk of the novel revolves around the suspects being interviewed and the clues gathered. Usually we have a small cast of characters, who we discover have good reasons to possibly be the murderer and at the end the detective reveals who the murderer is.

Some 'Whodunnits,' aren't about murder. Better to actually call them mysteries, because that is really the basic plot, because there is the secret at the heart of the plot, or mystery, of who did the crime. They can be about theft, such as some of the Sherlock Holmes stories, written by Arthur Conan Doyle, such as The Scandal In Bohemia.

In effect a 'Whodunnit' is a bit like a knot. There's something which has to be unravelled, a mystery (usually, but not always, a murder.) and it can only be unravelled when an investigator/detective, either professional or amateur, can piece together all the evidence and then decide who was responsible. This person, either male or female, tends to stand apart from the group of characters who are suspects, has a very keen mind and is able to see all sides and the come up with an answer so that the murderer can be bought to justice. Quite often the amateur sleuth gets to the result quicker than the professionals, who are often seen as bungling and incompetent and probably come up with entirely the wrong solution and suspect the wrong person as the murderer.

The detective, whether they are professional or amateur, is often portrayed as having flaws or at least appears separate from the world of the suspects in a 'whodunnit.' One can mention, as an example, Sherlock Holmes, more like a computing system, who is high-performing, in that he is a single man, who can identify clues which other people cannot. It is almost as if he is O.C.D.  (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) or he's at least on the autism spectrum, most likely he has Asperger's. He finds it difficult to make friends (apart from his companion, John Watson.) but he uses his compulsive behaviour to assist in his investigations. Also, he has a drug habit, which, no doubt, also aids (or even hinders) his investigations.

Other detectives, such as Morse, in the Colin Dexter novels (which were made into a highly successful television series which starred John Thaw.) is a divorcee, is grumpy and has a love of classical music and drives around in a Jaguar, have 'fatal flaws,' (or hamarthia,) which helps develop them as characters and explains their nature.

Busy At Camphill

I went to the first drama workshop session at Camphill of 2020 yesterday, Tuesday. I left the flat at around 8.20, as I know that the traffic can be quite heavy and it can take longer to drive there during the rush hour. I got there at around 8.35 and parked the car and then walked through the campus towards the Chrysalis Theatre. It turned out that most of the drama group wouldn't be coming to the session due to either illness or they were away on holiday, including a couple of the co-workers. The morning session begins at 9 a.m. We always start off with a group session and have to go round the entire group with a chance for each resident (as well as co-workers and volunteers) to tell the group how they are feeling and in some cases, what they've been doing.

With so few residents and co-workers, there was no point rehearsing 'Stranger Danger.' We were set to do some other tasks, such as sorting out the props, making lists of what was in each of the boxes as well as dismantling the Christmas tree, which had taken up residence at the side of the stage. It was an artificial tree and it was made up of several sections which clipped together, but it took some while to find out how it was put together. We took off the decorations, using a set of steps and then had to uncoil the lights.

Several people came to either deliver or select and take away costumes from the wardrobe department. I was detailed to help the two people who came to find a costume for one of them to wear for a fun-raising day. He was trying to dress as Willy Wonka from the Roald Dahl book, 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.' He was looking for a brightly-coloured jacket and a top hat and I think they found what they were looking for after some effort looking along the rails.

Some of the guys did a word rehearsal of 'Stranger Danger,' but it was only part of the play, because so many were unavailable. This was when I was downstairs in the wardrobe department with the couple choosing costumes.

After lunch we started cleaning around the back-stage area. The Christmas tree was still being disconnected and the lights being removed as we finished at 4 o'clock. Hopefully next week we will have a full compliment of residents and co-workers.

Technical Problems and Medication

I've been having technical problems with my Panasonic Freeview set-top box. I think I've mentioned that I replaced Sky with Freeview. It made sense, because I didn't get the best value from their service and it was costing quite a bit for the privilege of having their service, and Freeview is, well, free. The new set-top box has been working perfectly successfully, but they keep on upgrading the software (I presume that's what it does, you keep getting messages to do this and then when you try to find channels, they have moved them around or added new ones. Somewhat annoying.) But after one up-grade, for some reason or other the box wouldn't connect by wi-fi to the internet router, which meant that I couldn't use the catch-up facility which it has, so couldn't use BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub and all the other similar services.  No amount of fiddling with the various settings would re-connect to the router. I have now got it working again, not connecting via wi-fi, but by connecting a cable to the box and plugging it in to the router. The cable purchased from Amazon and ordered on Thursday and delivered yesterday evening. One of the advantages of having Amazon Prime, you get next-day delivery on virtually all that they sell. The Freeview box is now working as it should and I'm enjoying watching a lot of archive material on the BBC iPlayer.

I recently up-graded my Fire Stick to one which now has Alexa voice control. This was bought for half-price during Amazon's Black Friday period, so it seemed a good enough excuse to get one. Not only do you get the range of video material but by using Alexa you can have games, which are voice-operated. I was surprised how easy it was to set up and get running. I'm really glad that I bought this when I did.

I have mentioned that I had been prescribed Sertraline and Temazepam. The first is a anti-depressant and the second is a sleeping tablet. I took the Temazepam for only a couple of nights but found that there were unpleasant side-effects. I don't think it helped me sleep, even though I had a hot bath and a hot-milky drink before going to bed. I still wake at around 4a.m. and was then unable to return to sleep, but the next morning I felt really nauseous and got horrible shakes, which didn't go off completely until around midday. I stopped taking it a day or two before I was due to drive to Worcester for Christmas, because I don't think I would have been safe to drive the car.

Later. I took Alfie out for his usual early-morning walk, walking along Strudwick Drive and across Oldbrook Boulevard and I couldn't help seeing 'that woman' who stands in the road stopping cars and asking for money. This must be the sixth time I've seen her. I was keen to get back to Dexter House without the possibility of her stopping me or even following me back. She's dressed the same way as she has been before, tidily dressed, wearing dark trousers or leggings, a short top, like a bomber jacket, has short-copped hair, mousy-coloured, aged mid 40's early 50's, height around 5' 8. When I got back to the flat I rang 101 and told the Police of this woman, because I'm concerned for her safety, either getting run over or even stabbed by someone (unfortunately these things happen.) She must live somewhere nearby in Oldbrook and presumably in a residential home for people with either learning disabilities or mental health issues. If so (and it seems more than likely.) she must have a key worker or at least a support worker, or even a social worker who would look after her care.

Later still. Having sorted out the Freeview box (as explained above.) the Fire Stick was playing up on Sunday evening. It would not connect to the wi-fi router. I could not get a connection until I restarted it (having gone to the Amazon site and searching for 'help.' This worked and it soon joined the wi-fi router and the problem was solved.

New Year

So, Welcome to 2020! I didn't do anything in particular for the New Year, but I was well aware of things going on outside as the evening drew on. Fireworks being set off, but why start them before Midnight? What is the point? Why set them off in daylight? I could see them clearly from the kitchen window of my flat. When I went out with Alfie later in the morning, it was quite obvious where the fireworks were set off, because there were the remains of fireworks on Oldbrook Green as we walked around the circuit. Bits of rocket stuck in the grass, piles of burnt-out firework cases and other debris. If you insist on letting off fireworks to celebrate New Year, then, fine, but do at least have the decency to clear up the mess. Generally, there was no end of litter all around the park. It was awful. There are litter bins all around The Green, but two were over-flowing with rubbish and there was litter strewn all over the place. Why can't people just put their rubbish in the bins or, at least, take it home with them? It's a total disgrace. Then there's the matter of dog mess. I always carry bags to pick up after Alfie and I would never leave it because children play around The Green, but there is a lot of dog poo that isn't picked up because I've seen it. If you get caught (and it's unlikely, because who is around to police this?) you get a fine (not sure how much.) But there are at least three bins for this purpose, so why can't people who have dogs and don't pick up after their pets, just do the right thing and put it in the bins?

I went out with Alfie a good deal later and I noticed that a lot of the litter had been removed, especially around the bins, which, as I mentioned above, had litter over-flowing all around them. As We walked further around Oldbrook Green, I noticed a man in hi-vis clothing emptying another of the bins and the rubbish which had previously been overflowing out of it was now gone. It would appear that Milton Keynes Council have been on the case and the mess was being cleared up, but it still doesn't excuse people's disgusting behaviour regarding dropping litter.

(Friday) It's been raining over-night. Not much of a surprise. Alfie got a bit wet when we went out at around 7.30a.m.

I've watched the first episode of series 12 of Doctor Who. I rather object to them calling it series 12, because Doctor Who started in 1963 and they didn't have 'series,' well, as far as I remember. It seemed to be all year long, but I suppose it must have been off-air for some part of the year. I imagine 'series 12' refers to the fact that it was re-booted in 2005. I've been a fan of this show since forever. I was the right age, as part of the audience it was aimed at, when it began in 1963 (I would have been 13.) It captured my imagination, a quirky old man ('The Doctor.'), as originally played by William Hartnell, who had a time machine which could move around 'time and space.' It changed every couple of weeks, with each story running for 2-4 weeks (some stories ran for longer.) so that when the Tardis took off at the end of one story you never knew where the next story would be set, so when the doors opened, it was a surprise. I imagine that is how it was kept fresh, with new stories as well as locations (historical or in outer space, on a planet or earth.)

It's taken a while to accept a woman taking over as The Doctor. I suppose it's because the character has always been male. But, having seen Jodie Whittaker in the role, it really makes no difference whether the character is male or female. Unfortunately, what lets the series down are the rather pedestrian scripts. But the latest episode was crammed full of incidents, action, car chases and plenty of tension that it was worth watching. I certainly got caught up in the whole thing. It was an attempt to latch on to the James Bond franchise (hence the title of the episode 'Spyfall.')

Spoiler Alert! It did have a Bond Vibe, with a spectacular car chase. Also, something of a Men In Black feel, with our heroes and heroines approached by what would appear to be spies (of one sort or another and Stephen Fry introduced as a sort of spymaster. But he gets killed off far too early, unfortunately. If I have a complaint, why so many 'assistants'? We seem to be going back to the days when Peter Davidson was The Doctor and there were superfluous 'assistants.' When it was announced that Bradley Walsh was to be cast in 'Doctor Who,' I didn't believe it. It just seemed an odd bit of casting for a comedian and gameshow host to suddenly be cast in the longest-running sci fi show. But he was and it was genuine. But with three assistants it seems over-loaded and unnecessary. The show bounced from one location to the next, which was somewhat disorientating, to say the least. We live in a world where people have a short attention span, so I imagine this style of television drama is a response to this.

I have discovered that he viewing figures for this episode was the lowest for years, a little over 5 million viewers. But this doesn't take into consideration such things as BBC iPlayer or other catch-up services. I watched it on catch-up. Perhaps the show is just not as popular as it was, at the time it was rebooted in 2005 it had viewing figures in excess of 10 million. Maybe people don't accept Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor and also the producers keep fiddling with the format at well as moving it around in the television schedules (it's now going to be shown on a Sunday, when it was traditionally a Saturday evening show.) Perhaps Doctor Who is coming to an end. Might it just have gone it's course? Television programmes have a shelf life. These shows just come to an end. If the ratings are too low to make it worth producing, perhaps the BBC will cancel it. It would appear that it's just being produced because they can generate income from merchandise attached to it. Books, comics, toys, games, you name it, they can licence it and make money. Perhaps the core audience doesn't appreciate having the Doctor played by a woman. Who knows? Which is why the audience figures are so low, or at least, might appear so.