Wild, Windy and Wet

 Saturday. 6.30 a.m. Another storm raging across the country. This one is called Storm Darragh. I'd really love to know who comes up with these names.

3.50 p.m. I went to Sainsbury's this morning. Milk was running out and there were other things I needed. It's the best time to go, just after 9, because it's never busy on a Saturday morning. The self-service I used was behaving itself, which made things easier than usual.

The wind has been raging around the building all day. I think it must be the extractor fan in the kitchen which makes strange noises which are rather scary. Very blustery out and quite dangerous, with the possibility of tiles coming off roofs and bits of tree falling on you. Perhaps it's best to stay indoors, and I hope the wind settles down soon.

Sunday. 9.10 a.m. The wind was howling around the building all night. As I write this, it seems a good deal quieter, but still a bit gusty.

I have been unable to connect my Panasonic Freeview box to my new Vodafone Wi-Fi router. I have attempted to put the password into the relevant place, but it doesn't work. A really difficult job, because the password is so long, and you have to put in upper and lower case. Annoying and fiddly. I am also having a similar problem with my Canon printer. It is virtually impossible to connect the thing to Wi-Fi, so I think the only solution is to use the cable which I already have, so I will use that and forget the Wi-Fi connection. These things seem to cause no end of problems, but the cable is the best solution. There is supposed to be a way to connect via the Canon app, but I have spent some considerable time attempting to get the thing to connect, but nothing.

Tuesday. 7.30 a.m. Here I am, shaved, and dressed, Alfie has been out and sitting here writing this.

I have been doing more writing. Some things have prompted me to restart writing, one being a survey I did online, which was about food for older dogs. Alfie, being such a dog (can't believe he's 17. I don't know what that is in human years.) and part of it was to imagine I was Alfie and write a piece as if I was him and see the world as he sees it. I had real fun writing it and I think I got quite carried away. Hence, I ordered some new Pukka pads from Viking, the online stationery company, and have managed to write about a page and a half. I have had the idea circulating in my head for ages, so it was relatively easy to write. 

The weather seems relatively calm at the moment. I just hope we don't have the gale-force winds we have had over the past few days.

Friday. 9.25 a.m. The past couple of days, it's been overcast and gloomy. It's misty or, at least, thin and foggy outside. It would be great if the sun shone but don't expect miracles, as we are in December, so the weather can be expected to be cold and gloomy.

Saturday. 1.15 p.m. It's not so wild, windy or wet today, fortunately. The sun is shining as I write this and it's quite pleasant out.

I had a doctor's appointment at 10.30 this morning. As usual, I arrived early and it was worth it, because I was called into the doctor's surgery about 15 minutes early. The doctor said I was in good health, but I should lose some weight. I suppose he's right. I've never been into sport, but I suppose I could go for the occasional swim. I might look out for a gym which has a swimming pool. Carol and I used to belong to two gyms, one down near the football stadium and then Nuffield Health at Kent's Hill. Each of these gyms had the usual gym facilities, but also swimming pools, saunas and jacuzzis. I cancelled our Nuffield memberships after Carol died. It might be a good idea to get back to swimming as a form of exercise.

On the way back from the doctor's I dropped into Sainsbury's which actually wasn't such a good idea, as it was heaving, people in there no doubt making sure they had sufficient mince pies, Christmas puddings and wrapping paper before it all ran out. Not likely, but it seemed like it. The travelator wasn't working so I had to walk up without it moving and then come down in a lift when I had done my shopping.

Welcome To 2022!

Sunday 2nd January. Here we are, Christmas the  New Year are over and a brand-new year. I just only hope that it can be better than the past two years. Being cooped up in a small flat with just a small Yorkshire Terrier isn't really my idea of any sort of life. Although I should just point out that Alfie has been and is still an excellent little companion, although he has become very demanding, probably because we spend so much time together.

 It doesn't seem like a week has flown by since we went to Worcester for the Christmas weekend. We left on the Friday morning (Christmas Eve) and came back on Sunday (Boxing Day.) It was quite foggy on the motorway, but we made good time, arriving in Worcester just after midday. The three grandsons, George, Eddie and Arthur, were watching my arrival through the window as I drew up. I am called 'Grandad and Alfie Dog' almost as if we are an attached couple, although in some ways I suppose we are. Alfie just doesn't understand young children, probably because they move around faster than the average adult, have higher pitched voices and have a tendency to grab and stroke. This is entirely understandable since we have been leading a somewhat simple life since the pandemic and definitely since Carol's death. Chloe and Steve put a childproof stair gate across the entrance to the utility room, which is off the kitchen at their house in Worcester. Alfie had his bed, water and food if he needed to have a feed and the back door could be opened so he could get out into the garden. He did not like it, although he did settle down eventually and made little noise, but we did let him come out and wander around the house once the children went to bed in the evening. During this time he was quiet and seemed far more settled, wandering around after me like a shadow, even following me to the toilet.

We came home on Sunday afternoon and got back to the flat at around 5 o'clock. I'm so glad I didn't leave any later as I didn't want to drive on the Motorway in the dark, or at least, in reduced light. I'm not too keen driving in lights. On both the journey out and the journey back home I needed to stop at the  Moto Cherwell Valley service area. I had a need to use the toilets. It's a long walk into the building where all the shops and restaurants are. But it fulfilled my needs and I was soon back in the car completing the journey. Alfie is quiet minutes after being placed in the cage in the rear of the car, with the parcel shelf down which must make it dark, and he feels safe. But as soon as I draw the car up in a carpark or the drive at home, he starts barking and getting excited. 

Monday 3rd January. 11.00 a.m. I have turfed out the Christmas tree, which has been shedding it's needles for the past week or so and consequently looking somewhat thin and a real mess. I then vacuumed up the needles and have since given the floor a mop with the Vax steamer, and it's beginning to look a good deal better for the work it has entailed. 

For some unaccountable reason, my Panasonic Free view box stopped connecting to the internet. Without this connection, you cannot get any of the catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer to work or Netflix or other streaming services to work via this piece of kit. I had problems with it a few months ago. I simply wouldn't connect via Wi-Fi. I bought some cable from Amazon and used that to connect directly via the Wi-Fi hub. Furthermore, I attempted to reconnect via the hub once I got my Sky upgrade, and duly reconnected the cable via the back of the hub and into the Panasonic box. I seemed fine for a week or so, but then it decided to stop. I have since reconfigured the wifi connection with the new hub and used the password, and it now works. The thing was just being difficult for the sake of it, but at least it's working, thankfully. Yet another problem solved.