Another Day Older . . .

 Friday. 1.50 p.m. I took my car to Anglo Motors to have its MoT. I had booked it via phone last week. I knew the old one would run out yesterday because I went online to check. I drove over to Mount Farm, the home of Anglo, at 11.45. I handed over the keys and then sat in the waiting area. After around 45 minutes, I learnt that it had passed! I'm so pleased, it's another thing to not have to stress about.

Sunday. 8.05 a.m. I woke a good deal later than normal. 

Yesterday evening, I lost Alfie. No, don't laugh. How on earth can you lose a small Yorkshire terrier in a flat this size? I think he was under my bed.

3.30 p.m. We have had extremely loud music emanating from the National Bowl, here in sunny Milton Keynes, both yesterday and today. Our ears were bombarded by the heavy beat of reggae music. Not my sort of music, but the whole area around the Bowl had been cordoned off with traffic cones and those plastic fences you see when there is some sort of incident. On my way to church, I found that Chaffron Way was closed off at the Grafton Street roundabout, which meant I had to make a rather circuitous route around Milton Keynes before I could get to Shenley Brook End.

Wednesday. 10.45 a.m. Where have I been? Why haven't I been writing stuff on here? Simples! Not much is happening around here. Well, this is Dexter House, centre of the universe, full of excitement- not. We need a resident artist here, say, David Hockney or Andrew Lloyd-Webber, doing art, writing music and getting things going. It would certainly liven things up. We should have an Olympic-size swimming pool in the communal garden, along with a gym and cinema complex. I have to say, as you will have noticed, if you read my posts regularly, that I can get carried away with my musings.

I went to Sainsbury's earlier. It was like a version of the Marie Celeste, virtually empty. I didn't get a trolley with a wonky wheel, which drives me nuts. It refuses to push without squeaking or just not moving at all. I think they should spend some time getting them maintained. So the wheels run freely and don't squeak.

Thursday. 8.45 a.m. It's another mild and relatively pleasant morning. I just hope it stays that way.

Yesterday evening, I was part of a Zoom meeting, which was for market research. I won't go into too much detail, just suffice to say, it was very interesting. I've done quite a few of these, some really boring, but this was fascinating, and what made it more interesting was hearing other people's opinions. I will get £60 for doing it, so that's great, and I want to get more of these, particularly when they're on Zoom, as it means you don't have to go anywhere, just sit and chat in the comfort of your own home. It ended relatively late, which means I slept well and didn't wake up until around 7 a.m. Until we had the coronavirus pandemic, I had never even heard of Zoom. I quickly got the hang of using it, and it has paid off to have the ability to use it. My various bits of technology, such as my MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone, can be used to earn more cash. I have two apps on my iPhone, which I use to scan the barcodes of what I buy, using the phone's camera. I build up points which can be built up and then redeemed for various vouchers, such as Amazon, Argos, Sainsbury's, Tesco, etc. Well worth the effort. Another site I'm signed up to is called Consumer Pulse, which I've been with for years. When you buy clothes and other items, you record each on the site and, again, receive points which can be redeemed for vouchers. 

More . . . Of What? 2: The Sequel

(Friday) So, more of the same? I can't think what's likely to change. Not a lot. If anything.

We're being told that there's yet another variant of the coronavirus Covid19 virus. This time it's in South America, I think Brazil. Boris Johnson has closed the borders and nobody from those countries is allowed in. When I think of him closing the borders, it makes me think of him literally standing there, arms akimbo, one foot on British soil, the other in the sea, like one of those Gillray cartoons you see from the 19th century (or was it earlier?) with a defiant look on his face, tousled hair blowing in the wind and the virus held firm in a sort of fishing net. Or Winston Churchill, in similarly defiant mood, standing on the White Cliffs of Dover, with Vera Lynn's plaintive voice on the soundtrack of a scratchy black-and-white piece of British Pathe newsreel, with his words from his famous speech comes out of the loudspeaker of an ancient radio 'We will fight them on the beaches and on the landing stages. . . if England and  her Empire should last for a thousand years, men will say . . . this was their Finest Hour.' Not that in any way am I suggesting that it's Boris's 'Finest Hour.' Far from it. 

I can also imagine Boris as Gandalf, in the first of the "Lord of The Rings" books and films, "The Fellowship of The Rings." The party of dwarves, lead by Gandalf, enter the Mines of Moria and they get to The Bridge of Khzad Dum. It is guarded by the great monster, the Balrog, a fire-breathing creature which confronts Gandalf. He shouts at it 'You shall not pass!" In this case the Balrog is the coronavirus covid 19 virus, huge, round and covered in spikes things and bright green/blue. It is Boris Johnson who bellows at the thing "You shall not pass!" meaning it can't come into the United Kingdom. But in the Lord of The Rings, Gandalf fights the Balrog to the death and then he too falls to his death. But I won't give the story away as to what then happens. Poor old Boris. I don't envy him being PM during this pandemic. He's never going to be right, whatever he does. A very difficult job. Damned if he's right or damned if he's wrong, or words to that effect.

Strange thumping noises somewhere within Dexter House. I suspect it's the workmen who have been taking out asbestos from the ceilings along the corridor in which my flat is. That section is complete and now they are working on the other section. They had to keep tenants away and we weren't supposed to go out when it was on (I have mentioned this in earlier posts.) Another company came in to plaster the ceiling and then another company has rewired, ready to put in new emergency lighting.

I discover the thumping noises are from workmen digging a trench in the garden. Along the edge of a lawn area, with some trench leading towards the building. It might be something to do with the wiring for the emergency lighting, but I'm not entirely sure. Emergency lighting outside in the communal garden. I think they are replacing the old ones. Probably more cost-effective and lower carbon emissions or something. Anyway, at least I know what's going on, or I THINK I know.

(Saturday)I had ordered a new coffee table from Amazon and it turned up during the afternoon. I wasn't expecting it to arrive so quickly. Then the reading light arrived. I began working to construct the table. Not difficult, but it takes time and with so many pieces, in particular the screws and other bits and pieces, I assembled most of it and then left it, and as I write this these sections are leant against the bookcase. I will finish it off later tomorrow morning. The Tomshine floor reading lamp was easy enough to assemble. It works with a power pack which plugs into the mains. The metal sections screw together easily and it stands on a weighted base which is round. I soon had it working, a range of light intensities. It helps to make reading easier and the head is adjustable on a sort of flexible section so the light can be set to exactly how you like it. I am pleased with it. It had controls on it's upright, on/off and another to adjust the setting of the light, but it also has a remote control with is magnetic and will adhere to the metal stand. It needs AAA batteries which didn't come with it, so I will need to go out and buy some later today. I am more than pleased with it and I wouldn't have found this without Amazon.

(Later) I went out with Alfie at around 7.30 this morning. I knew it was likely to be raining, but it looked as if there had been snow in the night as some of the cars parked along Dexter Avenue had a sprinkling of the white stuff. It was really cold and wet and Alfie was more determined to return straight home, but I encourage him to make sure he did everything he had to. We crossed over Oldbrook Boulevard to put the pooh bag in the bin and he soon trotted back to the flat. I think we're likely to get heavier snow later in the day. There's quite a wind blowing as I write this (9.10a.m.)

I went to Waitrose and bought a pack of AAA batteries and when I returned to the flat I put a couple in the remote for the reading light. Bingo! It works! You can even dim the light using the remote! The only problem is I have so many remotes now: one for the Hitachi television, another for the Panasonic Freeview box, another for the Firestick and another for the Goodman's sound bar. The one for the reading light can easily be confused for the TV remote. Oh, does it matter? Just got to get used to all this technology.

I have now managed to finish off the coffee table. A good deal wider than the red IKEA table which I've had since moving to the flat. It's quite fiddly and time-consuming doing up the screws, which are in rather awkward places. I have still got the drawer to construct, but it's done. I am wondering if it needs the top covering in varnish or something, to protect it from the odd spill it's likely to get, as such accidents can be wiped off. I always think that it's best to build these flat pack bits of furniture to do it in stages, as it can become somewhat frustrating, what with all the pieces and reading the instructions. Also made somewhat difficult with Alfie getting in the way, so he was put in the bedroom with the door closed. Just makes it even more difficult with a small dog who wants to get under your feet. He just doesn't like being left out.