A Change In The Weather

(Saturday) The weather has become a good deal more wintry. It's to be expect I suppose. Generally, just as we begin a new year, the weather has a habit of becoming colder and there is the likelihood of snow and ice, making travelling, but whatever form of transport, difficult. Never mind, we can curl up with a good book, film or television series. I've finished watching 'The Crown' and have started on another Netflix show called 'Lupin,' a French series which has started streaming on the British Netflix site. It's good and seems to avoid a lot of the clichés of similar heist stories. 

It's reasonably sunny as I write this (1.30p.m.), but I have a feeling, if we go out, it will be cold. Alfie will definitely not like it, and neither will I. I must find my gloves as I don't want my hands to get cold. They can go numb and really hurt. A side effect of my heart medication.

(Sunday) Its a sunny morning. Actually a good deal milder than yesterday. The time, as I write this, at 9.53a.m. Church is on line again, at 10.30 on Facebook. Fortunately I can watch via my Fire Stick plugged into my television. The one problem with anything on line similar to that, including Zoom, is having to peer at a small screen. For a few minutes perhaps, but not around an hour plus. And with having on television I have the advantage of having a sound bar, so the sound is considerably improved.

(Later) We had a Freedom In Christ session via Zoom this afternoon. All was going well when Alfie, who was being somewhat demanding, wanting to sit on my knee and then jumping onto the sofa and then going off behind the sofa where I couldn't see him and then was immediately sick. I don't know what caused it but he has eaten his dinner and now seems fine. Everything cleared up and back to normal.

(Monday) The door which I got out through with Alfie this morning was locked. There appears to have been a problem, with the mechanism which locks it has fallen to pieces. I asked Barbara about this, because it meant I had to walk all the way round to the front door to get out and then take Alfie along the path which is beside Strudwick Drive. There is supposed to be someone coming to mend the door today. As it's a fire door it shouldn't, by rights, be locked. Just hope there isn't a fire as that would't be an exit when it should be open.

(Later) I have been out once more with Alfie and there was a workman repairing the door so we can go in and out of that door tomorrow. So pleased, as it's quite a long walk all the way to the front door and then along Dexter Avenue and eventually into Strudwick Drive.

I'm shocked that people cast off their face masking all around Oldbrook Green. I saw one flung into the hedge as we walked along the path towards the Green. Some people (it's probably a tiny minority) just have no thought for the environment and the fact that someone has to pick them up. There have been more Council workmen picking up litter. Some of the litter bins have been running over with rubbish and there's no end of litter flung on the ground. It makes me wonder how people live in their homes. Do they just throw litter on the floor when they've finished with it, usually crisp packets and the wrappings fo other food, sandwich cartons, sweet wrappings and so on.

(Later still) Yet another confounded coronavirus press briefing on BBC1 this evening. I just can't take any more boring waffle about numbers and miserable scientists (Chris Whitty can't be more boring if he tried and Matt Hancock is just behind him in the boring stakes.) Just needs jazzing up a bit, say, a couple of dancing girls, a band and a stand up comic. So I turned over to watch The Chase, but I didn't stay watching for long because when the ads came on there was one for constipation! Not what I want on when I eating my meal, thanks all the same. Switched over to Pointless, no awful adverts and I stayed on, even though it was on BBC2 this evening.

Lockdown: The Sequel

Well, what else could I call yet another blog post, when there's not a great deal going on? I've been out for the second walk with Alfie. I was expecting to see that little robin in the tree again as I walked along Strudwick Drive, but he wasn't there this morning. We crossed over Oldbrook Boulevard onto the green and I decided to walk across the grass instead of making the circular route we usually take. I came across several strange circular grass shapes in the grass, which has been partially cut recently. I'm intrigued to know what they are for or what they represent. Alien spaceship landing sites? For some sort of sporting action, such as American sports, such as baseball? Probably not, bt does it matter. Then I spotted something in the grass. A £2 coin! So it was worth walking over the grass after all! That can go into my change pot I have on my bookshelf.

I have been watching a really interesting series on BBC 2 called 'Portillo's State Secrets," which goes into detail on a handful of British historical events and uncovers secrets which have been kept hidden until now. Michael Portillo, a minister in Margaret Thatcher's government, seems to have made quite a successful career as a television presenter, most famously the one about Britain's railway system, called "Great British Railway Journeys," and using the Victorian traveller's guide "Bradshaw's" to see how things have changed in the intervening years. He has a certain engaging style. He's a natural television presenter, but I do wonder at times about his sense (or I should probably say, lack of in some respects)fashion, because his gaudy array of jackets, which can be only viewed when wearing sunglasses, seem a little outlandish, to say the least. This series has been buried on BBC2, and I had no idea it was on until I saw it in the E.P.G. (Electronic Programme Guide)  of Freeview, a few weeks ago when looking for something to watch. I think this is a repeat, but, as I say it has been hidden away without any sort of trailers or announcements that it was on. Typical, come to think of it. Such drivel as Strictly Come Dancing and EastEnders, or Holby, or Casualty get trailed to death, but anything worthy such as this programme get ignored. What is the sense of that? Come on BBC, do come to your senses. You make excellent programmes, or, at least, commission them. Live up to your Public Service Remit, and give such programmes more publicity.

(Thursday) We had our first Zoom coffee morning this morning. It was 'lead' if that's the word, by Ross and around 17 other SCF regulars joined. It has taken me some time to get the Zoom software to work successfully and I wasn't sure whether it was going to work. I have it on this computer, my MacBook Air as well as my iPhone. I couldn't get my image to appear on the MacBook, although other people could hear me, but I tried my iPhone and it work successfully on that, but it's difficult to use the iPhone, but you have to hold it up in front of your face so that the camera will photograph me. The MacBook has a built-in web camera, and because, when you fold up the screen it means the camera is at the right position to allow your face to be viewed, although you have to set the thing up so that the image it captures is sufficiently at the right angle to get your image central, without it looking strange because it's an odd angle. Also, make sure your background isn't distracting, best done against a plain wall if at all possible.

I managed to watch the National Theatre production of 'One Man, Two Guv'nors,' which was streamed on YouTube yesterday evening. I had wanted to see this when it was originally staged, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Exactly the right sort of thing needed at the moment. As I've said earlier in this post, there is just far too much mention of the coronavirus pandemic on television, BBC in particular. This came at exactly the right time. Good old-fashioned knock-about comedy, based loosely on Carlo Goldoni's play 'The Servant of Two Masters,' craftily re-written to appeal to a modern audience. It was the play that kick started James Corden's acting career.