Rainy Days And Mondays

 Friday 15th May. 6.35 a.m. I may have mentioned that I was searching for somewhere to go for a regular swim. Well, at long last, the search is over. I have found the Swimming and Sports Centre in Wolverton. I found it accidentally when I was looking at Google Maps. I know, it's such a good resource, showing such details such as hotels, petrol stations, A.T.Ms and in this case, sports centres. It was only a question of driving there and finding out such things as price and opening times. So, yesterday morning, after we had our Thursday Lifegroup at the O.T.C., I decided to drive there, and, hey-ho! I have been inside and came out with a timetable of opening times as well as price. I could have a membership, but at the moment I'm happy to have a pay-as-you go membership. I have everything ready, a brand new bag, bought from Amazon, my swim shorts, which I dug out from a drawer and everything necessary before I go, which will be sometime over the next week or two, when I receive my pension.

Saturday 23rd May. 9.05 a.m. It's quite warm this morning. I have the electric fan on, in an attempt to cool the place. It was quite difficult to sleep last night, but it's in those times, when I ger my ideas for writing. I have done a few sketches, one which had the Big Bad Wolf doing a stand up routine. I won't tell yolu how it goes, because it's got real potential. Another is Cinderella, again, doing a stand up routine. No, I'm not giving anything away.

I should have mentioned the presentation I went to on Monday morning, at Venture Church, formerly known as Milton Keynes Christian Centre. I think it has been changed, because Milton Keynes was declared a city, about the time of the late queen's jubilee in 2022. The initials for both is M.K.C.C., and it was done to prevent any confusion. But, to me Venture doesn't cut it. The church building is rented out for conferences and the event I went to on Monday morning was bout the East-West railway line which is due to open at some time in the not too distant future. The idea is to allow those living near this new railway line to ask questions and take part in the consultation, so that everyone's views are heard. There was a display of archaeology, because it will have been necessery to do research so that nothing of archaeological value was likely to be destroyed with the work being done to build the railway, similar to what is done when a major building project is undertaken, such as ben done wih the building of HS2, which runs through Buckinghamshire. As part of thsir display, done by MOLA, (Museum of London Archaeology.) they had a 3D headset that you could try out. I have been intrigued by this technology and have been attempting to find an excuse to try one out. I have seen them on display in John Lesis and Currys, but never had any sort of excuse to have  go with one, so this seemed such an opportunity. The young man who was there to explain the technology and how to use it, helped me put the headset on and use the controls, which you nhold in each hand, and have buttons and controls you use to manipulate the image which you see within the headset. I can't describe how amazing it was, the images of a roundhouse, from around a thousand or more years ago. You can see it all in complete three dimensions, so if you turn round you can see the entire structure. Amazing! It would take me quite a while to get rhe best out of the technology, asI think it would take more than one se to really appreciate what the thing can do, but I have to say, it really opened my eyes, and, because I am interested in both history and archaeology, it is even more amazing.

There was a table covered in all manner of archaeological finds, probably dug up at various sites, but I'm not sure whether any of them had come from digs connected to the East-West railway line. One item struck me, and I had to pick it up. It was a fairly large piece of flint, which had obviously been knapped, that is, it had been struck very carefully to turn it from a mere piece of flint into a workable tool. I've known about this process, having watched virtually all the Time Team episodes and the more recent episodes which have been funded by crowdsourcing and is on YouTube. I find it really hard to believe that something like that, a tangible item, which has probabl;y lain hidden for, probably, several thousand years, and can be held in my hand. Truly remarkable. This is when archaeology and history become some stunning. Not taught in some dingy classroom, but right in front of you, and you can touch it and almost see the marks where someone, thousands of years ago, spent time and effort to create something which could be used to cut up a carcass of a dead animal, skin it, to use the pelt for a cloak or other type of garment, used in the processing of meat for a meal, the skin also used probably to be part of the roof of a structure.

Let The Sun Shine In!

Saturday 25th April. 2.35 p.m. I can't believe we're almost into May. Where have four months gone? It doesn't seem long ago since Christmas. I don't know why it's speeding by at the rate of knots. I want it to slow down.

The digital thermometer currently reads 27ºc. Just warm and a bit clammy.

I have begun writing my second play. I can't believe I have written that! It is relatively easy to write because it is loosely based on my own family and set on a farm. I wouldn't say it was autobiographical, but it has given me a sort of framework to play with. I have backgrounds to most of the main characters and it's made it easier with that framework.

I went to Lidl around 9 o'clock this morning. I needed milk as what I had was running out. I picked up everything on my list and got to one of the self-service tills. I had meant to pay with cash, as there is very little cash in my bank account, but my concentration was elsewhere, because of starting the new play, so when it came to payment, I accidentally put my card details in the machine, but it wouldn't work, not surprisingly, so a staff member had to cancel my payment on that machine and open up a manned till (I we even allowed to say 'manned' these days? Does it have to be gender neutral? Crazy world we live in, if that's true. Anyway, I had to transfer to one of the manned tills, and so I waited, and no one appeared, and the voice of the Tannoy kept saying 'opening till number 8' because I think the staff in Lidl have to do more than one job, but not just be till operatives, stack shelves, clean the store and so on. But after the wait, I was served, and it meant I could get out of the store and drive home.

Sunday 26th April. 7.10 a.m. It's another bright morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 25ºc.

I woke up as usual, and put on the GBN news, and I was shocked to find out what amounts to a possible assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. A 30-year-old man has been apprehended, and the President was escorted off the premises. It would appear that the security staff, F.B.I. or whoever they were, did an amazing job and got the suspect extremely rapidly, and he will appear in court tomorrow morning.

Regardless of what you might think of Trump, he does open himself up to be a target of some lunatic who has a grudge, for whatever reason. The things Trump comes out with can be very dangerous. The current war in Iran, the things he says, such as taking over Greenland and many other things, would possibly incite a madman to attempt assassination. He just seems to provoke this sort of action, usually by lone wolf individuals. There have been many attempts on Trump's life, I think this one is probably the third.

Having said all that, the American obsession with firearms doesn't help. You would think, by now, with all the shootings, which seem to happen every other month, that someone would have the sense to bring in legislation to control the sale of firearms, or at least have some sort of licence for their sale, or even ban them in certain instances or have an age restriction. But no, they don't do any of those ideas so the attempts on Trump continue and madmen (or women.) seem to continue to rampage across the country.