No Fuel . . . Not Even For Ready Money

Monday. 8.40 a.m. I've taken Alfie out at around 7 this morning. It's getting colder as the days go by. I am wearing my blue Regatta jacket. I don't know what's happened to Alfie, it's not raining, but he does his wee on the grass and heads straight back indoors. It's not raining or excessively cold, so this isn't his normal behaviour. He's currently curled up on my bed as I write this. He will be due out shortly for another walk. I hope he doesn't repeat the 'shooting-back-indoors' act, as he needs a decent bit of exercise.

Regarding fuel for my car; I think I will wait a few more days, as the level of the fuel in the car's tank is low enough as it is, and driving around looking for diesel when it's at a critical level just means there is a real risk of it running out entirely. This whole situation is just causing a certain amount of stress.

I had heard that they was fuel at the ESSO station, so I drove round to Childs Way. Unfortunately, there was no diesel, which didn't help my stress levels. I then drove on to the Shell station in Grafton Street and the same there. By this time the light had come on which tells me the fuel level is low, so there's no sense in driving aimlessly around hunting for fuel when there's the danger of running out completely. I just need to  be absolutely sure I'm going to get fuel before I set off which is so difficult at the moment. I just hope this situation gets resolved soon as it is really annoying and stressful.

Thursday.  8.45 a.m. Alfie as taken completely by surprise at around 7 this morning. I was all ready to take him out, had his lead in my hand, suited and booted, as the saying goes, but he was curled up asleep on the sofa. Somewhat wet and windy as we got out onto the grass along Strudwick Drive. It doesn't look as if it's going to clear up and very overcast and murky. Oh well, we are into October now, so it's to be expected.

Saturday. 11.20 a.m. I have abandoned the idea of actually managing to find a petrol station locally which had a supply of diesel, so I could fill up my car. As a result I had to cancel my booster covid vaccine jab which I had booked for yesterday morning. There is no point in aimlessly wandering around Milton Keynes with a virtually empty tank of fuel and risking entirely running out of fuel. It would cause so many unnecessary problems, as you can imagine. I have done an online Sainsbury's shop, which is scheduled to arrive around 8-9 pm tonight. That was easy enough to do as I have so many items which I buy saved in the 'favourites' section, which makes ordering so much quicker and easier. All done in around 20 minutes or so. I have also ordered a fuel can from Amazon, with the intention of using it to be filled up later in the week and the contents put in the car, so at least I can actually drive to a petrol station when fuel stocks are back to some sort of normal after all the panic buying. I just need someone to drive me to such a petrol station to complete this operation. Watch this space for further news of this operation. Hopefully completed within the next week or so.

3.50 p.m. Any idea that I was going to take Alfie out late this afternoon was swept away when I peered out of the window and saw that it was raining. So, I decided to watch the Benedict Cumberbatch 'Hamlet' which is available on Amazon at the moment. I have watched the first half and have paused at the interval and will continue later or probably tomorrow afternoon. It is another 'Hamlet' to add to my ever-growing collection or at least, productions I have seen. The first, although I didn't watch it, but worked as A.S.M., when I was working at Liverpool Playhouse in 1971 (goodness, is it really 50 years ago? That's an amazing thought.) The production which was the first play I worked on when I arrived there that February, or might it have been late January, I really can't remember. I was entailed with operating the counterbalance fly system, which was worked from stage-level. Nobody had thought to train me in the operation of the system. During the technical rehearsal, when all the technical aspects of a play are first rehearsed and worked out, I had to bring in a curtain during a scene change in a blackout. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure when to stop the curtain and when the lights came up, the aforementioned curtain was laying in a crumpled heap on the stage. You can imagine how embarrassing it was, but I suppose, looking back, that's a good way to learn how to do something. The rope which operated the counterweight system went down into the basement of the theatre, below the stage, but the pulleys were in a kind of gulley which filled with water and as a result the ropes shrunk considerably because of being wet and this made the rope lines very taut, although it wasn't that which made the curtain lay crumpled on the stage floor.

Other versions include the National Theatre production with Rory Kinnear and Patrick Malahyde in it which I saw at the Milton Keynes Theatre with Carol before Christmas a few years ago, the Kenneth Branagh film which utilizes the uncut text and runs around four hours, and a version which I saw at the Derngate Centre in Northampton, again, in uncut text, directed by Peter Hall. It ran for around four hours, and it was two hours before there was an interval. Stephen Dellane and Donald Sinden in the duel roles of Polonius and Gravedigger. It was a matinee put on especially for schools, and you can imagine the reaction when, at one point, the mad Hamlet runs across the stage stark naked! The school girls in the audience shrieked and the whole auditorium erupted  into convulsions of laughter and surprise, which I suppose they would have be expected to behave.and this held up the action for several minutes. Gina Bellman was Ophelia and I have a connection with this actor in that she was in 'Blackeyes,' a Dennis Potter television drama series in which I was a stand-in/double for another of the actors, Nigel Planer.

As I've mentioned, I ordered groceries from Sainsbury's website. My delivery was scheduled between 8 and 9 p.m., but I got a telephone call from Sainsbury's to inform me that, due to a problem with the vehicle, the delivery would be around an hour later than scheduled. I imagine that it might possibly due to the fuel shortage due to panic buying. The delivery came around 9.30 p.m.  Not actually a problem, but it meant staying awake to receive the order. There were a lot of substitutes for items I had ordered, but that is no doubt due to the shortage of H.G.V. drivers. But that wasn't much of a problem.

Wild, Wet and Windy

(Tuesday)It's a wild and stormy day here in darkest Milton Keynes. Storm Brendan is battering the United Kingdom from the west and, going out with Alfie as I did early this morning, it took all my time and effort to remain standing upright. I took Alfie out for a second time at 1.30 and the wind was a good deal stronger. It's dustbin-day in this area and people had put their rubbish out for collection and some of it, mostly boxes and bags of rubbish, was being blown into the road. Someone along the road has obviously bought a Hitachi HD television (a smaller version of mine I have reason to suspect, along with a Henry vacuum cleaner, as indicated by the remaining wind-blown packaging. The other day some bright spark had dumped an old television in the side entrance to Dexter House. Could it be the same person who purchased the Hitachi television and dumped. More like, fly-tipped. the carton in the road? I think there may be a connection.)

Walking around Oldbrook Green there is paper and goodness knows what else being blown about by the wind. As the day has gone on, the wind seems to have got a good deal stronger. I took out Alfie again at around 1.30, but I don't think he appreciated the weather and tried his hardest to return home.

I didn't go to Camphill on Tuesday because I didn't feel 100%. A rather shaky feeling when I got up and horrible tingling in my feet.  It was rather like an electric shock, although quite mild. I don't know what's caused this, but probably some side-effect of the medication I'm on. I didn't think I was safe to drive the car, so I stayed in the flat. I need to discuss this with either a doctor, cardiologist or pharmacist.

(Wednesday) It's not so wild and wet outside this morning. The wind has dropped, thank goodness, and the rain has stopped.

I've been to put fuel in the car at the Shell station in Grafton Street. I've done well, because the last time I put in fuel was on Christmas Eve, on my way out of Milton Keynes, driving to Worcester for Christmas. It just shows how economical the Renault Captur is, being able to drive to Worcester and back as well as driving around Milton Keynes. Then I went to Sainsbury's and did a fairly large shop which means I have enough meals for a couple of weeks.

Went out with Alfie as soon as I'd unpacked my shopping and put it away. It was almost spring-like as we walked along Strudwick Drive. I have mentioned the amount of litter which has accumulated around the area, most around Oldbrook Green and, in particular, the litter bins. I did mention that this had been removed but today I again saw a couple of Council employees litter-picking, and one had a wheelbarrow with a black bin bag in for the litter. Why on earth people have to fling their litter on the ground I can't think. It seems it's usually the younger generation who do this, unfortunately. I always assumed that the youth of today were more environmentally aware than, say, my generation, but it would appear that this is not the case.

I went out with Alfie at around 2 o'clock this afternoon and no sooner had we got outside and in Dexter Avenue, walking towards Strudwick Drive, than the sound of a siren could be heard and within a few seconds a fire engine could be seen, moving, at great speed, towards Oldbrook Boulevard. I couldn't walk fast enough to get to the crossing onto Oldbrook Green, but I could see it turn left along Oldbrook Boulevard but by the time we reached the crossing it was well out of sight. No sign of smoke, so it was impossible to know where it was going. It could have been going to a fire, of course, but you have to remember that the fire service can go to other incidents, unrelated to fire.

As I walked along with Alfie, I followed a man in dark clothes carrying what looked like some sort of camera, with a sort of digital screen attached to it, rather like a smart phone. When he got to the green, near where men and boys kick a football into a goal, he put down the back pack he had on and it was clear that the device wasn't a camera, but the radio control of a drone. A few days ago I was again walking towards Oldbrook Green and I heard this high-pitched noise. It would be difficult to describe, but rather like something moving at speed, a bit like a sort of mechanical sound. As we got closer, I saw the small drone the man was operating. It flew up high into the sky and made a sort of insect-like sound, rather like a mosquito. It flew vertically and was quite scary and I don't think Alfie liked it. This afternoon it was being flown again and, as we got to the green, there was a flock of seagulls sitting on the grass and they flew up into the air and were scared off by the drone. We did our usual circuit of the Green, and by the time we got back to the crossing, I heard a sort of clunk sound and I think the drone crashed into the ground. Whether it got broken or not, I wasn't sure, but the speed it was going, up and down and then horizontally, I can assume that if it came down too quickly and the operator mis-judged the height,  and it must have crashed into the ground and therefore got broken.

I'm using my newly-acquired and up-dated Fire TV Stick. It has Alexa voice control built-in and 'she' will work if you press the button on the remote to operate the gadget. You have to wait for the blue line to appear at the top of the screen before 'she' will answer and do your bidding. You can call up apps which you download, such as YouTube, or else, if the thing is set up properly, play music from the Amazon Music store. I used to pay a monthly fee, but I cancelled it and now only have the free service which comes with Amazon Prime. Alexa will also play voice activated games, some based on television gameshows, such as Pointless, Deal Or No Deal or The Chase. But some of these only go so far and you can't complete them unless you pay a fee (which I haven't.), which means they can be a bit frustrating as you don't get to the final (if you manage to answer questions correctly.

Going To Worcester

Since I have been keeping the bird feeders on the feeding station replenished, our old friend Cyril Squirrel has been making an appearance. Even though he shouldn't be on the feeding station and I should really make some effort to remove him, however I manage to do that, probably by merely opening the window and shouting, I can't be be entertained by his antics. But how do you remove a squirrel from a feeding station? You can get a sort of disc that goes around the central supporting column but it would be difficult to fix. Then there's the crazy pigeon that attempts to sit on the structure and is far too big and seems to find it difficult to balance on the think. It doesn't have a lot of sense and in the end it just gives up and flies away.

Sunday. It's to such a bright and sunny day today, but still quite pleasant. Infact, I think I prefer it like this. If it's too hot I can't cope.

I've been out early to put diesel in the car, well before 8 o'clock. Virtually car-free on the way, which is the whole purpose, none of those idiots who insist on tail-gating. Shell have a new loyalty system and I have the app on my iPhone. I don't know if it's as good a system as the old one but after 10 visits you get money off your fuel, so it may be worth the effort to use. BP have done the same and given up Necar for their own system.

Monday. A not particularly bright and sunny day, but it did get warmer as the day progressed. I was ready and waiting for John and Margaret to arrive at exactly 10 o'clock this morning as they were driving me all the way to Worcester to see my new third grandson, Arthur, who was born four weeks ago. We drove out of Milton Keynes but going in a slightly different direction from the route I would have driven if I'd gone myself, up the A5 and across to Buckingham whereas I would have gone via Standing Way, but actually not a lot of difference as we still ended up on the M40 and then M5. I was surprised how quickly we got to Claines, which is part of Worcester, the remaining couple of miles being directed by the use of the Google Maps app on my iPhone.

Chloe in the garden hanging out washing and Steve was at home. We had lunch sitting at the table in the garden, salad and quiche and then Chloe got baby Arthur who had been having a nap when I arrived. Still very sleepy when she bought him down for me to see in the garden and given a chance to hold him. The other two, George and Eddie, were at playgroup and wouldn't be home until around 4.30 so I would be unlikely to see them as John and Margaret were coming back at 3 p.m. for the return journey back to Milton Keynes.

Sure enough, almost exactly at 3 there was a knock on the door and Margaret came in to say they were back, having been into the centre of Worcester. So, I bade farewell to Chloe, Steve and baby Arthur and we got in the car and drove home to Milton Keynes, arriving back just before 5p.m. I was surprised by the fact that we had left Milton Keynes at 10a.m. and driven all the way to Worcester and got home at 5p.m. I don't know exactly how many miles it was for the round trip, but it must have been a fair distance and I'm still so grateful to John and Margaret for taking me all that way. As babies grow up so fast, it was great to see Arthur as such a small baby. Probably the next time I see him he will have changed considerably, as is the way with babies.

Deep and Crisp and Even

The snow started falling slowly around 9 yesterday morning and didn't stop until early evening, so we are now well and truly snowed in. We had to take Sam to work and went to Tesco's at Oldbrook to get a few essentials. Fortunately I had heeded the warning in the forecasts for the week ahead and had already stocked up with groceries from Lidl's, such items as milk, bread and a chicken which we had roasted yesterday evening. Carol got the message around 7 this morning that the Academy would be closed, so she has a day off. It seemed totally unlikely that any of the local schools would open, due mainly to health and safety issues. The gridroads around Milton Keynes have been fairly clear of snow, although Grafton Street was like a cart track as there was a lot of snow which had not been melted by passing traffic. We had to go to the Shell petrol station along there to put some fuel in the car, and it was really quite treacherous, somewhat slippery where the road out of the petrol station joined the gridroad. The roads have been gritted but it takes moving traffic on it to work the grit into the ice and snow so that it is kept clear. Standing Way was generally snow-free, basically because it is a busy road with enough traffic moving on it to work the grit into any snow that falls on it and so thaw it. As I write this (9.50 a.m.) the snow has stopped falling, but I imagine the temperature is well below freezing outside. This is when it becomes dangerous, when the road surface becomes icy and then really slippery. The inner road around Eaglestone is very snowed up, essentially due to the fact that these roads don't get gritted by the Council. Our front drive is around 6 inches under snow and the car has a thick layer of snow on top of it.