Spring Is Sprung!

Saturday. 12.15 p.m. It's bright and sunny, but windy. Not as windy as last week, when the gales were strong enough to almost blast your head off.

Sunday. 9.35 a.m. I'm just about to go to church. I have come back from taking Alfie out and we met up with a lot of other dog-walkers. There's quite a community now, and it's good that Alfie has other doggy friends. He's amazingly well-behaved, which, to be honest, is more than I can say for some other dogs.

4.40 p.m. I went to church and as soon as I got home I had a snack for lunch as I normally do. I actually watched Bargain Hunt, which I haven't watched in ages. They had on an ancient episode because there weren't any social distancing in evidence. This show gets shunted around in the schedules at the weekend. usually displaced by football. It's always at 12.15 during the week but can end up a good deal later at weekends. Football seems to get priority. I bet if it was anything like classical music or theatre (some hope!) it would be on one of the minor channels, BBC Four, or shunted too late at night or early in the morning. 

I am sorting out things in my flat, as I have already mentioned in an earlier post. I wanted to get a recycling bin, so looked at the IKEA website and found what I wanted, so I could get rid of the cardboard box which sits on the unit next to my microwave. The box was used to pack up things from the house in Eaglestone when I moved to Dexter House. I drove to IKEA after lunch, having taken out Alfie for a further trot around Oldbrook Green. Well, it has been sunny and pleasant, so it was an excuse for him to have a walk. The road leading into the IKEA car park was gridlocked, and I could see that the ground level car park was packed, so I drove further to the car park underneath the IKEA building and then walked in. The place was heaving. I imagine it's because people have been cooped up indoors because of lockdowns for two years, and they were like me, they just needed to get out. Unless you've not visited an IKEA store, you will not realize that you have to walk through each department until you find the one you want to buy stuff from. It's a crafty sales device, which means you're going to pick up things you probably hadn't intended purchasing as you walk around. There are a lot of new things I hadn't seen in IKEA before, such as a new range of eco lightbulbs and those which can be operated via your mobile or tablet (ie; termed 'smart') and Bluetooth speakers. I have my eye on one or two things which would make my flat a little bit more homely, such as a rug for the lounge, but I must check the size of the space in the room before I go ahead and buy. Something colourful with a modern pattern. I saw a couple for £40 which seems reasonable. Then I arrived in the home organization department, which has all manner of files, boxes, crates and so on and found the sort of bin I wanted for recycling, which comes with a lid. Having got it home I now realise I need a second one for glass items as I don't want to mix paper and cardboard with bottles and other glass items. I think I will go back and buy a second one next week. I picked up some coat hangers as I walked around and then, nearing the tills, I had to join a really long queue to pay, snaking around between carefully-placed items to entice you further. As I say, the layout of the store is so designed that you can't avoid things which you buy and add to your trolley. It's the old trick of having things at a level that means you can't avoid touching them and then, putting them into your trolley.

Freedom Day . . . At Long Last!

This is the day we've been waiting for. All the ludicrous restrictions we've had to live under for the past two years are being abandoned. Let's say it; the pandemic is over, although Boris Johnson has said that the coronavirus hasn't gone away. Let's just say, it's hiding. We have to learn to live with it. 

It may be 'Freedom Day' if that's what you want to call it, but we now have all this overshadowed by the Ukraine Crisis with Russia threatening to invade that small country. Vladimir Putin making out it's their fault, and they're the aggressor. All this is done to deflect things from problems within Russia, mostly financial.

Thursday. 9.45 a.m. I have just got back from taking Alfie out for one of his walks and, as we walked along the path that runs beside Strudwick Drive, I notice a bright yellow pencil that looked as if it has been thrown away. Nothing wrong with it, an ordinary Staedtler wooden pencil, HB grade. I'm thinking, 'I'll have that!" So I picked it up and put it in my jacket pocket. But further along, I picked up more and in total there were 10 of them. I just hope they were thrown there by a pupil from Milton Keynes Academy or even the Primary school which is just over the road. Are children so stupid as to throw away stuff they are given to use in their lessons? I know some children don't have such items given to them by their parents as they don't have the income to afford such items as pens, pencils and other things, so why waste these by throwing them on the grass. There are children in Africa who would be pleased to have even a scrap of paper to write on or a pencil to write with. I don't think the children around here realize how lucky they are to have even the basic things free of charge for use in their education.

Perfectly good pencils, rescued from the grass along Strudwick Drive this morning. Just a waste to throw them away.

7.30 a.m. As I've mentioned in earlier blogs, I have upgraded my MacBook and now have a MacBook Pro. I'm more than pleased with it. I'm really surprised how thin and light it is, compared with my MacBook Air. I had been searching online to find some way of recycling it and, hopefully, get a fair price for it. This morning it has been collected by a courier from DPD, packed it up in a sealed box and is now gone. It was in excellent condition, mostly because it has had a plastic cover. I had managed to remove the bottom cover, but not the top one. Which shows how effective it has been in protecting this laptop.  I always attempt to look after all my gadgetry, because it is expensive and if I want to use it there's no point in it getting damaged if it's cared for properly. I had wiped the surface with a wet wipe but got the driver to remove the top cover. Also wiped clean and hopefully, this will affect the price I eventually receive. 

I'm somewhat annoyed that the laundry room is locked until 8 a.m. Just crazy that I have to wait until 8 o'clock to do my washing. I haven't been told about this stupid new rule. More rules and regulations. Just annoying.

It seems that Freedom Day was somewhat overshadowed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just tell me, when did Kiev become Kyiv? It seems that the names of quite a few places have more or less overnight been changed in their spelling. Most western nations have taken their eyes off the ball (you might say.) Biden, US President' is as much use as a wet fish. Probably has early-onset dementia. Meanwhile, our politicians have been more concerned about parties in Downing Street than watching what's happening centre stage.  No wonder Rome burns whilst Nero fiddles. Sorry, I'm mixing my metaphors. No wonder Putin has managed to do what he's done. Puts me in mind of the Munich Crisis in 1938 before the beginning of World War 2. Strange how history repeats itself.

10.30 a.m. It is quite sunny and warm. A pleasant enough day to wander slowly around Oldbrook Green.

I have been back baking. I got the Sainsbury's Magazine last time I was shopping and inside is a recipe for chocolate cookies, so I have bought the ingredients (not actually from Sainsbury's. I decided to go to Waitrose instead. It is quite an effort to make anything complicated in my tiny kitchen because there isn't much in the way of surfaces. It's a bit of a juggling act. Measuring out the flour, butter, sugar and so on and attempted to roll out the dough and then put it on baking trays, but my efforts have been worthwhile. The results have exceeded expectations. Now I have had all the boxes removed from the pantry/cupboard, I have more space to store the equipment, such as the food processor and the trays and pans. I need to get a good deal more organized next time I do a bake.

I have hit the 10,000 steps target today! That's approximately 5 miles. I took Alfie out  at around 4 p.m. as it was bright and sunny and it seemed a pity to not take advantage of the sun. I don't think Alfie was going to miss the opportunity to have a good walk and sniff around in the grass. Just glad to get the steps total in and finding the Fitbit is motivating me to get out of the flat.

Please Release Me!

Tuesday. 10.05 a.m. From this Thursday, 24th February, all restrictions imposed by the Government to reduce the spread of coronavirus, will be removed. A day of celebration, surely? A day to throw off the shackles and not be forced to wear a face nappy (a good description for face coverings or whatever you want to call them.) It seems that the powers that be had let CONTROL go to their heads. The population, in general, have just rolled over and let their lives be controlled, mostly with fear being used as a weapon. We all know that 'coronavirus hasn't gone away.' Well, that's what the scientists are telling us and that's what Boris Johnson said at yesterday's press conference. But surely any virus mutates (which is how we came to have the omicron and delta variants.) Then we need to build up natural immunity, which is what the human body does (Doesn't need much intelligence to learn this. Pay attention, to those at the back of the class!) But treating us like infants is really an insult and we do need to be able to make our minds up if we're going to do such-and-such, for example, washing our hands regularly and wearing, or not wearing, face coverings. Surely, that goes without saying. Over-cleaning can have the opposite effect, as it can kill off natural flora which fights bacteria. Look at what's happened with the over-use of antibiotics, hence M.R.S.A. But now the government wants people to start going back to work, those who are employed in offices and other workspaces where people gather. Some hope of there being a race back any time soon because we've been frightened into submission by the scientists. It won't be easy to change people's habits.  After all, who is running the country, or, at least, supposed to be running the country? It seems we've been controlled by scientists, who don't very often get things right, particularly the vast numbers they tell us are going to catch the virus and how many are going to die from it. All this after they have number-crunched and come up with a figure which turns out to be so over-the-top as to be unbelievable, and our government just rolls over and does what they say. These people are paid eye-watering amounts of money, yet they get things wrong. Boris Johnson should just tell them to get lost and just remove the crazy restrictions.

I've been to Sainsbury's this morning. I had a few items I needed, one of them being sugar. They have had it in the same position for I don't know how many years. I went up and down the aisles, back and forth. I was at the point of giving up when I discovered it moved to an entirely different place along the back wall. No sign on the old position, telling customers where it had moved to, which is too easy. Just very annoying to have to find it myself. 

I emailed my MP about the Partygate scandal, that is, the discovery that there had been parties within Number 10 Downing Street during the time we were not supposed to meet up with other people in large numbers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. I wasn't expecting to get a reply, but I didn't really expect to get a personal response! I am somewhat impressed that I got a personal response, not some prepared email that everyone gets. He has since emailed me again about the further situation regarding Partygate. To be honest, I think the whole thing has been set up to discredit Boris Johnson. As the photographs of Boris Johnson and other ministers in the Downing Street garden were first published when the story originally broke, in the Labour-leaning Daily Mirror, it seems to me there was a definite plot going on, even though the parties broke lockdown regulations. Then, who took the photographs? They must have been in a building over-looking Downing Street. Will we ever be told?

1.20 p.m. I have made some chocolate cookies. I'm not entirely sure if they're really successful. They taste great, but they might have needed a bit more cooking at a slightly higher temperature to be entirely successful. I think they should have been crisper than they are. A bit chewy but really tasty.

Mark, who cares for one of the tenants in Dexter House, has helped me dispose of the broken up boxes and packages I had in the cupboard in the kitchen, which I mentioned earlier. He has taken them to the area where the dustmen come to collect rubbish. So the cupboard/pantry is more or less empty, save for one or two items, such as the old electric kettle and toaster which I can take to the tidy tip for recycling, along with the old toilet seat which has been sitting against the kitchen wall since it was replaced months ago. It's good to have dealt with all this stuff that has been cluttering up the flat for so long.

Hey Ho, The Wind and the rain!

Saturday. 7.55 p.m.  We had Men's Breakfast at the Oaktree Centre this morning. We haven't had one of these gatherings since the one at The  Fountain in Loughton. 

There was a break in the rain. The sun came out, surprisingly. As I write this, it seems still outside.

Sunday. 6.30 a.m. It sounds suspicious as if it's gusting outside as I write this.

9.15 a.m. I've just been out with Alfie. It is as windy as ever, but probably not as powerful as it was in the midst of Storm Eunice on Friday, but still advisable to be wary of falling branches and roof tiles falling off buildings. I saw a large branch had fallen off one of the trees along the path around Oldbrook Green yesterday mid-afternoon, the Shackleton Place side.

1.30 p.m. Now we have Storm Franklin on his/her way. The highest wind speed ever recorded has been measured on the Isle of Wight, at 122 miles per hour. I wonder if all those wind turbines we see all over the area are busily converting these winds into electricity.

I didn't go to church this morning, because of the wind. I have seen pictures of the damage caused by the high winds on Friday, and they had really put me off going out. Cars being smashed by falling bricks, lorries blown over on a motorway, damage done to the O2 dome and the top of a spire in Wells, Somerset didn't exactly help matters. But I managed to catch today's service from the OTC via Facebook.

Monday. 5.44 a.m. The wind is still raging outside.

Since the pandemic struck in late March 2020, I have built up quite a pile of boxes and packaging, some of it left from when I moved into Dexter House, but a great deal from buying items online, mostly from Amazon. I am now in the process of breaking up the boxes ready to take to the tidy-tip but will wait until the wind has dropped. All of these packets and boxes are in the pantry (for want of a better word to describe the small storage room next to my kitchen.) It's not so much the actual boxes that are the problem, which I am breaking down so that some will fit inside other larger boxes so that it will fit into the back of my car, but also the material which is used within the boxes, plastic material, card as well as polystyrene. Much of this has been broken up and put into recycling bags which are taken out to the bin yard at the rear of Dexter House, but the rest will go in my car. As you have to prebook your visit to the tidy tip at Bleak Hall, which is done online via the Milton Keynes website, I want to make sure all this work is done before I book my place so that all this rubbish can be taken away.

10.45 a.m. It's as windy as ever. But, regardless of the weather, more bulbs are popping up out of the ground. The daffodils are beginning to show some signs of appearing along the bit of grass opposite The Cricketers in Strudwick Drive and there are catkins on the bushes the furthest side from The Cricketers on Oldbrook Green. As the saying goes, 'the first green shoots are appearing.

7.45 p.m. I am fairly certain that the wind has subsided. Well, I really hope so. Let's just say it would be nice for things to calm down.

Blow Winds and crack your teeth!

Thursday. 7.50 a.m. Well, the title of this post says it all. The wind has been strong enough to take your head off, making even standing up straight really difficult, but I'm not so sure about the cracking teeth! But I can really imagine how poor old King Lear felt when he was on that blasted heath! Shakespeare uses weather a great deal as metaphors in his plays. In Lear, particularly, it represents Lear's state of mind. Well, I suppose if your daughters were to treat you in the way Goneril, Regan and Cordelia treat him, it's no surprise he's gone off his head and is wandering, literally and physically.

We've just had Storm Dudley crashing through, blowing over trees, tearing roof tiles off houses and generally causing havoc, mostly, it would seem, in the north of England and Scotland. We await the next storm to come in, Eunice. Will she be worse than Dudley? Probably, so batten down the hatches.

7.35 p.m. I am continuing with my writing. I am in the process of a new character. It's strange when I am in the creation process that a character which isn't real can begin to become almost 'real.' I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but you spend so much time imagining this fictional person that you can almost hear their voice and, in some cases, see them. I suppose this is what happens when you read a book, you imagine what the characters are like and the locations in which they live.

Friday. 5.45 a.m. The sound of wind outside has woken me up, so here I am once more working on writing this. I did the washing up at around 2 a.m. and sorted my washing for going in the washing up machine later, as well as the recycling, which is in its sack ready to take out. I have a feeling the wind is going to get stronger as the day progresses.

Watching BBC Breakfast this morning, they had a piece from the Environment Agency telling us how NOT to go near the sea and other places, such as flooded rivers, but then it was all contradicted by one of their reporters (but I think there may have been more, but I didn't keep my television on much longer.) was reporting from Porthcawl. The sea was being whipped up by Storm Eunice, but the gentleman didn't seem to be in the least bothered. So, why do we get a message to keep away one minute and then a reporter doing the exact opposite? This sort of thing has happened so many times over the years on BBC Breakfast. One of the most memorable being during floods somewhere in England, and a reporter actually standing in the water, up to his knees. What sort of message does it send? It's dangerous, so don't do it. Or are BBC reporters immune in some way? Just plain arrogance. Can they not report from a safer position? Or from a studio?

12.35 p.m. It's still windy. I don't mean a slight breeze. I mean a really powerful storm, shaking the branches of the trees I can see from my kitchen window. It's rattling the doors in my flat. I have taken Alfie out briefly, but I'm reluctant to venture out until much later because there's the possibility of trees being blown down or branches falling and hitting us. I will keep an eye on things and decide whether to go out or not. At the moment, probably not.

We did go out, considerably later than normal. It was still howling a gale, but it was necessary for Alfie to go out.

Saturday. 3.40 a.m. Well, would you believe it? I'm here again, in my armchair, in the lounge, having had a shave. I woke up and decided, because I couldn't sleep, to write a bit more of this blog post. The wind has gone, or, at least, Storm Eunice, has gone. It's peaceful, but I know there has been a great deal of damage, to both life and property. The O2, formerly known as the Millennium Dome in London, has been damaged. Great chunks of it's roof, if that's what you term a sort of large tent/dome, have been ripped off, so you can see the interior, and the top section of a spire of a church in Wells in Somerset has fallen off, videoed by someone on their mobile phone, as shown on the television news yesterday evening.

Almost (But Not Quite) Like Spring

Saturday. 10.25 a.m. It's another bright but windy day, although quite chilly. What more can I say at the moment?

Monday. 4.35 p.m. We had what's called 'Café Church' on Sunday morning. There was no worship, although live music was played in the main hall. The idea is that those who don't normally go to church could come along and find out that we're quite friendly and don't have two heads. Tea and coffee were served, and two young ladies operated the coffee machine, making lattes and other types of coffee usually found in places such as Starbucks and Costa. Danish pastries, biscuits and other eatables were also provided. It was a good place for fellowship and to meet up in the same way as we do after our usual Sunday morning services.

Tuesday. 7.55 a.m. It's bitterly cold and windy this morning. I went out with Alfie as usual, but we didn't hang around for too long. So, not quite like spring. It's that time of year when the weather can be somewhat unsettled. But at least it's getting lighter earlier in the morning.

The drains at Dexter House are in a sorry state. There is an unpleasant odour in my bathroom. No, not caused by THAT! I have an aerosol spray, Oust, which eliminates it, but it keeps coming back. It's sort of haunting the place. I had a shower yesterday evening and the water wouldn't run away quickly as it should. It's next to impossible to have a decent shower because the shower unit isn't high enough so that you can stand underneath it. As I'm over six feet tall, I have to bend to allow the shower to work efficiently. It's almost as if it's only designed for a midget, certainly not intended for someone over more than five foot four inches tall. The bath is the same. It's not a full-length bath, only around three-quarters the length of a decent bath. I think they were attempting to cut corners when they installed the bath and the shower. So I can't possibly have a decent soak, laying full-length in the bath, without bending my knees uncomfortably, and if I over-fill the bath, there is the possibility of the water overflowing onto the floor and causing a flood.

Thinking further to the bathroom. I'd really love to meet whoever laid the tiles on the floor in this room. If 'laid' is the correct term. It was obviously someone who had no real idea how this job was done, because it's the most awfully poor job I think I've ever seen. They must have merely flung a whole handful of them and stuck them down where they landed, because very few of them butt up to each other properly, some over-lapping and there are gaps, particularly in the area directly in front of the toilet bowl. The paintwork wasn't much better, which, in some places, looks as if it's been applied with a broom, or else whoever did it was doing it in the dark or was blindfolded. It's the same with the flooring, done with laminated blocks or whatever, There are gaps along the edges, which should have been finished with some sort of edging strip, no attention paid at all with the finish. Something of a disaster. I think rather a waste of materials and time taken to complete the job, if 'job' is the right word. 

They're supposed to be coming to paint the interior of Dexter House in the next couple of weeks. We got letters through our doors telling this momentous news. The stairs to each flat are to be included in this painting, so I will have to be careful not to touch the bannister when walking up and down to avoid getting covered in paint. I personally think this is a waste of time and money. Upgrade the place, for example, kitchens and bathrooms (incidentally, when will mine be done? I'm still waiting for someone to come and survey my bathroom so it can be refitted. As mentioned above, a full-sized bath would be an improvement or at least, having the shower unit so I can stand under it properly instead of having to bend.

Wild and Windy

 Monday. 8.05 a.m. Thank goodness the high wind has gone. It's relatively mild as I write this.

Tuesday. 3.45 a.m. Here I am again, early hours of the morning, wide awake. I might just as well be on the MacBook writing this than not being able to sleep.

I have been doing family research for the past few years. I don't think I've ever mentioned it on here. I have had a subscription to a website called Myheritage and had done a considerable amount of work on there and got back to around the time of William Shakespeare. There are quite a few holes in the research, and I've built a family tree to which other people who are doing their own family research can contribute.  I have now set up a subscription to Ancestry.co.uk and managing to continue with the research. I am now building up an index file of people in my family tree, which seems a better way of collecting information rather than merely putting it in a notebook. I can add information (i.e. birth, death, where they lived and anything else relevant.) on these cards when I discover it and in this way make sure that individuals are easily identified. With so many of my ancestors having the same Christian names, it's quite difficult at times to identify individuals, so to have as much information as possible makes things a good deal easier. As a result of my research, I can get back 12 generations on my mother's side. Quite an achievement, but I hope to get back even further, with continued research.

I got the inspiration for doing my family history from the BBC television series 'Who Do You Think You Are?' where celebrities follow their family history back in time and make interesting discoveries. I think I had intentions of doing this before this show, but it was the spark that set things going. Probably quite a few other people have followed this path. It has obviously been made easier because of the internet, with such sites as Ancestry and others. Once you've signed up it's merely a question of putting basic information in about your ancestors, dates, places they lived and so on, and off you go.

Weds. 2.20 p.m. There are two washing machines for the use of the tenants in Dexter House. They have been on what you might say their last legs for months, and one has been showing more than usual signs that it isn't working properly for the last couple of weeks. It has now been removed from the laundry room and has now been condemned, which means that it can be replaced. Or so it would appear. But there are so many layers of management that things have to go through before a new washing machine can be installed. The old machine is standing in the entrance hall, so we only have one fully operational machine. But now this working machine is showing signs of not working properly. They (meaning the company who installs and presumably, supplies the machines) have said that it would be the faulty bearings, that's the mechanism that controls the spinning and revolving of the drum within the machine. The mechanic has said that it could get hot and start a fire. This isn't surprising when you consider the speed these machines revolve at when in operation. Presumably, if the brake within the machine doesn't work properly, it could cause it to get hot and then cause a fire. It's crazy that there are so many levels of management it has to go through to get anything done here. Nobody wants to take responsibility. Which means we, the tenants, are the ones who have to suffer when the machines don't function properly.

6.00 p.m. So, we could see the end of pandemic restrictions. That is, if the statistics look good, and seem to be doing just that at the moment.

Alfie needs a haircut. This is why I wanted to book him an appointment with The Groom Room at Pets At Home in Bletchley. I had the phone number from their website. You ring up, and then you have to go through a menu and once you press the relevant number button you get another menu and when you ring that number just rings off . . . Then I found a card I was given by the staff in The Groom Room some while ago, and it had another telephone number on it and when I rang it took some while for the young lady to find me an appointment and the only one was on 7th April. Hopefully, it will be a good deal warmer by then. It does seem rather cruel to have him trimmed when it's quite cold because he does suffer if it's chilly. Likewise, he doesn't like it too hot either. It's just that his face is hidden under a mass of rather scruffy hair.

Return of Winter?

Saturday. 10.15 a.m. It might be bright and sunny, but there's a chill wind blowing. As the old proverb goes, 'it's an ill wind that blows no good,' which is true in relation to Boris Johnson. We're now into February and I just wonder whether we will escape a freezing and snow-covered rest of winter. It seems possible that we might, but let's see how things turn out.

3.15 p.m. I've been for a walk at the Ouzel Valley Park, which is just down Chaffron Way from where I live in Oldbrook. I let Alfie off his lead in one of the meadows, checking beforehand that there was no livestock, as there is often either sheep or cattle in these places. I know he wouldn't annoy them, but cattle can be quite territorial when dogs are near. It was extremely windy, which is still is as I write this. I clocked up a little over 8,000 steps, as recorded on my new Fitbit Versa 2, so when I got back to Dexter House I wanted to get to my daily target of 10,000, so I took Alfie around Oldbrook Green and I managed to get to the target. 

Sunday. 3.40 a.m. I woke to hear wind howling outside. I went to the loo and shaved. Just no possibility of getting back to sleep now with that wind making that noise.

Last night I watched Billy Elliot: The Musical on Broadway HD. All I can say is, 'wow'! Not disappointed in the slightest. It's truly amazing. I always wanted to go and see it when it was either on in the West End or the tour when it came to the Milton Keynes Theatre (has anyone never come up with a decent name for the local theatre here in Milton Keynes? The recently opened theatre in Aylesbury is called 'The Waterside Theatre,' does at least have some sort of originality, but ours? Lacking some sort of originality, I must say. I would warn you that the show has quite a lot of expletives in it, which, in context, do make it more realistic, but can become somewhat contentious, especially if you were to take young children to see it, although it's not really suitable for children below, say, the age of around 12-13. I'm not sure, but I think the original film had a rating of around 13.

9.25 a.m. It has been raining. I have been keeping a watch-out to see if it had stopped, but just in case I decided to get Alfie rigged out in his Regatta rain jacket, and I put my bright yellow raincoat on. We went out and Alfie wasn't sure of the weather, although at that time it had stopped raining.

4.45 p.m. I went to church. There seem to be more people there than ever. It almost always happens that when the service starts there are quite a few seats available and then people arrive. Just the way it is. I usually get to church about half an hour before the start time, but it seems strange to me that people don't get themselves sorted out so they have to arrive late, just after things start.

On the way home I went into Morrisons to buy something for lunch because the service finished later than usual and then there was coffee. It seems as busy as ever. Once I'd had my sandwich and drink when I got home I took Alfie out around Oldbrook Green. It was exceptionally windy so I didn't intend spending any more than necessary out. As I write this, I can hear the wind whistling around the building outside.

A Little Of What You Fancy

I think the Partygate scandal, if indeed it can be termed a scandal, just shows how much Boris Johnson can obfuscate. Now there's a good word. I think I will henceforth attempt to find a 'Word of The Week. This word.

So, obfuscate. Wording something in such a way that it is so excessively complicated that nobody really understands it. This can be said of the crazy and somewhat pointless regulations regarding the pandemic lockdowns. Then, why on earth are there different regulations in the various constituent countries in the United Kingdom? Why are they not consistent throughout the whole United Kingdom? Then, on top of that, we have Boris Johnson who waffles on and seems to evade responding to the various questions in Prime Ministers Questions and debates in the House of Commons, such as, was he at a party in 10 Downing Street or other government establishments?

Wednesday. 2.50 p.m. So, Denmark has got rid of all its pandemic lockdown rules and regulations. So, when can we in Great Britain remove all of our stupid restrictions? Boris was more or less bludgeoned into introducing them in the first place, by the scientists who should have known better.

I think it's time to drop any more mentions of Partygate. It's getting really boring. 

Thursday. 7.45 a.m. Quite mild as I write this. I just hope it stays that way, at least, for the next week or so.

I've bought a Fitbit Versa 2. It replaces the old one I've had for a couple of years, which stopped working. This model isn't merely a step counter, but a watch that measures heart-rate, and many other things. I bought it from Argos, using my Nectar points and points I had collected doing various online surveys. I was surprised how quickly I was able to get it up and running and using it. I had ordered it via the Argos website and collected it from their store in Milton Keynes yesterday morning ('Click and Collect' I believe they call this.) Argos have stopped their catalogue and seem to only work with their website. I suppose it must have been extremely expensive to create these catalogues which came out twice a year and then distribute them. If you have the internet it's far easier to find and order items which you can then collect from their showrooms or have delivered.

I went to my first lecture of the National Trust Association at the Oaktree Centre at 2 p.m. It was somewhat off being there, but not for a church event, but nevertheless it was interesting. It was a talk by someone who used to work for Charles Ross fine art auctioneers in Woburn. Charles Ross is a regular antique expert on such television shows as Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip. This gentleman, by the name of Evan Willison, gave an amusing talk (he didn't like it being called a lecture, and I can see why. Smacks of 'education' and it being somewhat po-faced, which this certainly wasn't. He mentioned many and various incidents which had happened to him over the course of working as an auctioneer for over 30 years. Very amusing. I was surprised by how well attended the event was. There are regular talks given on a variety of subjects as well as outings to various places, one coming up to the British Museum and another to Chartwell, home of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill. I don't think I will be going on that one, having already visited and the fact that it would take a good two hours to travel down to Kent and then another two hours back on a coach. Not my idea of fun, particularly as I'm over six foot tall and sitting on a coach for any length of time would be uncomfortable. Most coaches aren't designed with any thought for someone my height. I may wait and see what other outings they have and decide to go one something else, especially if it's to one of the National Trust properties.

A Work Meeting or a Cheese and Wine Party?

I have rejoined the National Trust. I went online the Sunday before last and filled in the relevant details and I was surprised that my membership card and the handbook arrived on Wednesday. I thought it would be at least a month before all this arrived. I had already discovered a local branch of the National Trust Association, having been to the history festival which was held in Campbell Park during the summer of 2019. It was here that I discovered Milton Keynes Heritage Association, which I joined as well as found out about C.L.A.S.P. (Community Landscape Archaeology Project) which I signed up to and was due to go to an afternoon in a village hall somewhere north of Peterborough, learning about the various techniques that are involved in archaeology (for example, ground-penetrating radar, lidar etc. )But this was postponed when the first lockdown was announced in the early months of 2020. So I await the possibility of getting involved in that during the summer of 2022. The area branch of the National Trust Association meets in the Oaktree Centre and I am going to a meeting this Thursday afternoon.

Monday. 4.45p.m. So, the infamous Sue Gray report on the parties and other gatherings, work or otherwise, has finally been released. Has it been tampered with? What has been removed so that some people don't get the blame for all this craziness?

Tuesday. 8.00 a.m. The 'Partygate' business has been blown up out of all proportion. Okay, so our beloved Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, broke lockdown rules. But when you look at these rules they were so complicated, it's no wonder anyone would be totally confused. There should have been a distinction made between what was a gathering for work and when a gathering was for entertainment, such as a party. Tying people in knots isn't such a good idea. Looking at it another way, there are now people coming out of the woodwork who say that, in effect, the medicine is worse than the illness. They say that lockdowns have caused more problems than they solve, that they don't actually reduce infections, wearing face coverings are an infringement of people's liberties and human rights, that lockdowns have damaged relationships, for example, domestic violence has increased under lockdowns, mental health has been damaged, medical procedures such as chemotherapy have been totally disrupted or even abandoned as a result, that children's educations have been totally destroyed. I can go on. Then, on top of all that we have jobs being destroyed, people's livelihoods being damaged and then there's the economic cost which runs into trillions of pounds. Which will take decades to repay. And we're fussing over parties going on in Downing Street? It seems totally ridiculous, and they are supposed to have happened almost two years ago. What a crazy world we live in. If this was fiction, you'd say it wasn't real, when in fact, it is.  It seems appalling to me that these regulations have been concocted by those who have no democratic right to make such rules and regulations, although these regulations have been approved by our politicians. Worst of all, the data that has been released about the numbers of infections and deaths of those who have had a positive covid test have been concocted by using highly flawed computer modelling. 

I think what really comes out of this scandal, if that's what you want to call it, is whether we as citizens of this country can trust our politicians. Why can't Boris Johnson just tell the truth? It seems he can't be totally honest about whether he was or wasn't at one of these gatherings and stop trying to evade questions. We should be able to trust our politicians, even if we don't agree with their policies.