Goodness Gracious Me!

 Friday. 5.25 a.m. It's bright and early, and I've already taken Alfie out. 

Yesterday, after going to The Oaktree Centre for Bible study and help with packing up Acorns, playgroup (I don't go earlier because it opens earlier than it used to. There are two sessions, and the second one finishes at 12.15.) I drove home and immediately went into the shopping centre to have a browse and go into Costa which is opposite Marks and Spencer. I had a cold drink, caramel (not sure what it's called), cheese and ham toastie and banana and pecan cake.  Very tasty. Then into Waterstone's. Bought two books, one from Anthony Horowitz, 'The Magpie Murders'. It's currently being shown on BBC1 and on 'Britbox', although I haven't watched it. I may once I've read the novel. The other, 'This Sweet Sickness', by Patricia Highsmith. I've read a couple of her novels, 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and 'Strangers on A Train' which was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. I think her novels are best described as psychological thrillers.

Saturday. 5.05 a.m. Alfie and I were out well before 5 o'clock this morning. He was doing his usual barking when he saw me getting ready to go out. The buildings in the city centre, which are normally seen from Oldbrook Green, were obscured by fog. Completely hidden by grey and gloom, but it was reasonably mild out.

12.20 p.m. My Sky mobile SIM contract will expire in June. I wasn't aware of this. I was under the impression that it was paid for with my iPhone payments, which are paid in instalments. I had an email informing me that this was about to happen and that I could end my contract or continue. I don't want to change to a different provider, so I telephoned the call centre (I was wondering if it should be open this morning, as it's a Saturday. Fortunately, it was. The young man who answered was extremely helpful. He informed me that I hardly use my data allowance, and he advised me to go for a lower allowance, which would reduce my costs considerably. So, I now have 6 GB of data and cost £7 per month. I also learned that my contract, which pays for the iPhone 12 I currently have, expires in June next year, meaning that I can upgrade to a newer model iPhone when the contract ends and the phone is paid off.

Sunday. 7.00 a.m. I have been up since well before 4 o'clock this morning. The reason was that there was a noise somewhere within Dexter House. I have a feeling an ambulance was called because someone fell over in the corridor, but I'm not sure, and I didn't investigate. Because I couldn't sleep, I read a chapter of my current book, 'Les Misérables.'  I did some clearing up in the kitchen and even cleaned the bath! I know, rather odd, but it's cleaner than it's ever been since I moved into the flat.

I took out Alfie at around 5.15, with him barking outside the bathroom door, where I get dressed. As I write this, the sun is shining and it's relatively mild.

2.45 p.m. I have been watching the National Theatre production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' on the National Theatre At Home app (and shown on my Hitachi HD television.) This production, which was originally in repertoire in the Lyttleton Theatre at the National Theatre's South Bank Home, is set in a 1930s hotel and has Katherine Parkinson as Beatrice and John Heffernan as Benedict. There was an element of a 1930s film musical about it, mixed with that of a Marx Brothers film, with mistaken identity and plenty of visual gags. I have also seen the David Tennant/Catherine Tate production of the same play, and, of the two plays, I think they had a far sense of chemistry than in the more recent National Theatre production.