The Race Is On!

 Wednesday. 6.00 a.m. It's not so bright and sunny this morning. In fact, it's not bright and sunny at all. I took Alfie out, and it was raining, although rather thin and miserable. During the night, I woke up and could hear heavy rain. So, I suspect there will now be flooding, mostly on the grid roads around Milton Keynes.

10.15 a.m. Another trip to you've guessed it!- Sainsbury's. It was pouring rain (well, what else? Ink? Tea? Ribena? No.) There was a problem in the store (there always seems to be. Not the lift and neither of the translators this time,  but water leaking in from above. It would have been coming in from one of the flats, which are above the Sainsbury's store. This meant that I couldn't get into the self-service area, intended for trolleys, so I had to use one of the self-service checkout machines in the area which is intended for shoppers who had baskets.

Thursday. 6.20 a.m. I awoke later than normal. Which is fine. 

Alfie must have had a bit of an accident. If you can call it that. There are bits of the dry mixer he has with his food all over the floor near where his feeding bowl is. It's easy enough to clear up with the dustpan and brush. A job for later. Then, I heard this weird sound from the bedroom. I thought Alfie was being sick, but it was him sneezing! He then came into the lounge where I was sitting, and he sneezed again. He didn't seem to know what it was, as he seemed a bit surprised. I don't know what set it off, but it was certainly amusing.

Yesterday afternoon, at around tea-time, I had my television set on and there was a lot of anticipation regarding a speech which would be given in Downing Street, by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister. The media was there in force, with television cameras, microphones and cameras at the ready. It was a wet and miserable afternoon, raining heavily, and many umbrellas were being used in an attempt to keep dry. Then, from the famous door of Number 10, a couple of men came out, carrying the podium and placing it in the street. A few minutes later, Rishi Sunak came out and began his speech, and we were told that the General Election had been called, with him going to see King Charles at Buckingham Palace, to ask him permission to dissolve Parliament and have a General Election of 4th July. The Prime Minister was getting very wet as he stood and spoke, and it seemed strange that he wasn't given an umbrella to shelter under as he walked back inside Number 10, he was soaked.

Another Day Older!

Saturday. 7.30 a.m. Well, it's my birthday today! I'm not going to be in the flat all day. I'm going to Aylesbury, to an archaeology conference on the finds which have been made during the building of the HS2 rail line (High-Speed 2.) It should be fascinating. I just have to find the place where it's being held, as I don't know Aylesbury all that well. I shall put the postcode in my satnav and trust it will get me there.

Sunday. 1.50 p.m. An almighty rainstorm this morning, about the time I was due to leave in my car to get to church to set up chairs for the service at 10.30. I got somewhat soaked as I walked to the car, on a few yards, but the downpour left me wet, so I had to dry my glasses on a tissue before driving off.

I should have mentioned it yesterday. That is my trip to Aylesbury, to attend the archaeology conference which was held at The Gatehouse, which is part of Aylesbury Vale District Council. The actual conference was in what is called The Oculus. This is a stunning circular space which has wooden baffles on the walls to help deaden the sound. At first, when I walked in, I thought they were either some form of seating, folded up or even shelving of some sort. But it was obvious that they weren't for that use. The seats are obviously moveable and can be arranged in any sort of configuration, but yesterday they were facing the stage, such as it is (not in what I'd call a theatrical stage at any rate.) Although, saying that, I think it could well be used for theatre, and in particular, theatre-in-the-round, if the seating was reconfigured. 

It was actually easy enough finding The Oculus. I had a look at Google Maps, so I had a good idea of where it was. Also, my SatNav came in handy. I have to admit, once I had found the place where the conference was, I had to go round the block once and then went into the car park which was right next to The Gatehouse. Mind you, I made sure you didn't have to pay and asked whether the gate would be locked. It wasn't, but, knowing my luck, there was the possibility of being locked in or fined for not having the appropriate ticket attached to my car.

The archaeologists who have been employed to do the work on the various sites along the path of the HS2 rail line have now completed their work, they have all dispersed and, by now, are probably working on other projects, so this was the final chance to learn what had been found. We heard about farms and some really fine houses which have now been demolished as well as a church at Stoke Mandeville (St Mary's) which, after examination, showed that there had been activity there going back to the Iron Age, through the Roman period and up until the time the church was constructed and then demolished. There were a few other sites mentioned, one at Southam, which I drove through only the other month when I came home from Kenilworth Castle as well as another site fairly close to where we were at the conference, Fleet Marston, which is on the A41, the road we used to drive along on our way to Waddesdon Manor.

Monday. 9.50 p.m. I have been having problems with opening the door which leads out of Dexter House onto the path on Strudwick Drive. There has been a problem with it on another occasion. You have to push on the catch and it won't release the door. So, because our S.H.O., Barbara, isn't here today, I have rung Mears to inform them of the problem. As this would be an exit if there was a fire, it must work.

Yesterday evening we had an almighty thunderstorm and torrential rain. I heard the crash of thunder but wasn't sure whether it was actually thunder. There were noises of fireworks being let off also, so I did wonder if it was that, but no doubt the rain put those idiots off. Why do people think it's acceptable to let off fireworks like that? In a public space. It's not even November yet. Apart from anything else, it's a waste of money. There is a sign on Oldbrook Green that says, the use of fireworks on the green is not permitted, but, like dog fouling, what's the point of all these notices and by-laws, if they aren't policed?

I'm glad that Boris Johnson has withdrawn from the election (or whatever the process to elect a new Conservative leader and Prime Minister is called). I can't imagine how he thought he could just walk back into Number 10 as if nothing had happened, but now the field is clear for Rishi Sunak to take the pole position and get the keys to Number 10. No doubt there will be some sort of announcement regarding all this around 2 p.m.

2.15 p.m. It has just been announced that Rishi Sunak has been announced as Conservative leader and, hence, Prime Minister. Boris thingy withdrew and the only other remaining candidate, Penny Mordaunt' withdrew from the election just before 2 o'clock.

Rishi Fights Back!?

6.30 a.m. Tuesday. I seem to be waking up later and later each morning, most likely because as we get to the end of August, it gets lighter later and later. 

10.05 a.m. I decided to go to the Esso station in Childs Way to put diesel in my car, so it's ready for the trip to Worcester on Friday. I waited till the traffic was clearer after nine and then I discovered that they were resurfacing the road and there were cones at the entrance to the fuel station, but the actual entrance was clear further on. It was something of a shock to realize how little I managed to put in the car, due to increased fuel costs. The gauge on the pump seemed to rack up the amount very quickly, but if I was driving to Worcester, it was no good leaving Milton Keynes with a fuel tank half empty. But it's now done and one less job to deal with on Friday.

I have managed to find someone to, hopefully, look after Alfie over this weekend. The lady is the sister of my neighbour in Dexter House and lives in Loughton. I took Alfie to her bungalow this afternoon she has a small dog and Alfie seemed happy there, so I am optimistic that I can leave him there so I can drive off on Friday morning.

Wednesday. 10.30 a.m. I was a little shocked and surprised when I got a parcel delivered yesterday containing the replacement FitBit. I spent some time attempting to get it to sync with the app on both my iPad and iPhone. It's all about getting Bluetooth on both devices to communicate with FitBit. This morning, after a further attempt, I did actually get it connected, and, as I write this, the thing is working successfully. There are more apps to set up, but they can wait as they aren't that important at present.

Thursday. 6.15 a.m. What's that wet stuff which is falling from the sky this morning? Could it be . . . . rain? It was certainly a shock to find that it was raining when I took Alfie out at around 5.45. I don't think Alfie was over-impressed by it, as he dislikes getting wet, but we definitely needed it, because everything is so dry and parched. I don't expect it will take longer for the grass to revive, but it will mean we have sustained downpours.

Rishi Sunak, one of the two prospective candidates in the Conservative Party leadership election, (the result of which will be announced at the beginning of September.), has said that he does not think the scientists, who were responsible for the information which the government was given regarding the covid pandemic which lead to two years of lockdown, should have been allowed to have so much power over such matters. He attempted to air his views that such lockdowns were likely to cause financial problems, alongside damaging children's education when schools were closed. He was not allowed to have an opposing viewpoint and was shouted down whenever he attempted to mention the matter at various cabinet meetings. It would appear that this policy, of closing down the economy and putting companies' employees on furlough, is what is partly responsible for the rise in inflation, rising fuel prices and businesses struggling, along with millions of households. Not only that, but by 'protecting the NHS' so it wasn't overwhelmed by people with what I will refer to as 'Wuflu', it put off people going to their doctors to check out symptoms of cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. My view is, those scientists who were, in effect, controlling the government, weren't democratically elected, so why were they given so much control over matters? 

Now some firms are finding it difficult to persuade their staff to return to work, even with the successful delivery of several doses of the vaccine. The government used 'nudge' tactics to get the public to conform to the various regulations which were bought in to control the virus. Psychological use of fear in particular, with such terms as 'don't kill your granny' and other fear-filled propaganda. You can't expect one minute to have your population gripped with fear,  stay in what was more or less 'house arrest' and then, once things are considerably safer(which I don't in any way believe was 'unsafe' in the first place.) to suddenly revert to a new normal and immediately return to their workplace. If Sunak had his doubts about the lockdown consequences, why on earth didn't he do something about it, for example, go to the media? No, on second thoughts, if he had, it would have fallen on deaf ears, because most, if not, all the media, BBC, ITV and most of our press, were in favour of more tight lockdown restrictions. So, when people start complaining about the rise in inflation, they should stop and think, if we hadn't had two years of lockdowns, we might not be in this situation.