EastEnders in Trouble

 Wednesday. 1.45 p.m. Milton Keynes MP, Ben Everett has demanded an apology from the BBC over the appalling way Milton Keynes was portrayed in the soap EastEnders in an episode which was aired on BBC 1 this week. There were scenes of grim, dilapidated housing, gangs of teenagers and drug-addicted neighbours. Apparently, the scenes which were supposed to be set in Milton Keynes weren't even filmed there, but shot in Barnet, in North London. Ben Everett has said that he would be contacting the BBC and demanded that producers come up with a storyline which portrays the positive side of the city.

I'm not exactly EastEnders biggest fan. I find it so miserable and certainly not an accurate portrayal of life in the east end of London. Gloomy, depressing and just plain nasty. But there really is no excuse to portray Milton Keynes in such a negative way. It can't be too difficult to do a bit of research. Just lazy, on the part of the storyliners and scriptwriters.

Friday. 9.40 a.m. I was expecting a parcel to be delivered yesterday. I had an email and I clicked through to the Royal Mail website and by putting a code into the software I got a message which gave me a time window of yesterday to confirm an approximate time for the parcel to be delivered. Not only that, but I was out at a Bible study at the OTC yesterday morning and when I got home at around 12 o'clock there was absolutely no sign of it being delivered. It could have been left on my doorstep, and there was no card through the door to let me know that they had attempted to deliver it and where it was.

This morning I went on the Royal Mail website and discovered a message which stated that they had attempted to deliver the parcel, but it wasn't left because I wasn't at home. So, it would appear, I will have to wait until Monday for it to be delivered. No card through door to inform me of this, or even whether I could collect it from the parcel office in Brinklow.

1.35 p.m. I have been into the main shopping centre to get my hair cut. The barbers have changed their name. It used to be 'Central Barbers', but it's not called 'ROK Barbers.' I'm not sure what ROK, but I have an idea it's a brand that produces cosmetics, hair products and so on. I had booked my appointment online, which makes it easier and quicker when you book and pay, making sure you have the appointment at a time which is convenient.

I parked where I usually do, next to 'The Point' and paid using the Ring Go app, and then walked into the shopping centre. I was in good time, so I decided to go into Boot's Optician and booked an eye test, which is later in the month. From there I walked to the barbers and sat outside until it was my time to have my hair cut. Once I finished in there, I went to T.K.Maax, because I had been given a card which had money on it and I wanted to buy a saucepan. Not difficult to find what I wanted in there and paid for the saucepan and then went to Gregg's, which is a few doors along and bought myself a ham and egg roll, some Belgian buns and I got a free drink with the order, and then it was back to the car and home to Dexter House.

Vaccine Vacillations

 So, we now have a vaccine against the coronavirus. Will it make any difference to lockdowns, restrictions on everyday living, social distancing etc etc? It seems very unlikely in my opinion. It's all very well having a vaccine against this wretched virus, but getting people to have it is another matter. In a democracy, you can't make people have such a vaccine. It really against you human rights and liberty. There will be those who will believe conspiracy theories regarding it's use, for example, the government is putting microchips into people's bodies to track their movements (false, but never the less, this theory would be spread via social media etc.)

(Monday) It's a good deal milder this morning. As I write this at 8.50a.m., it appears sunny, or at least it seems so as I haven't yet opened the curtains. Alfie is sitting on the sofa next to me and waiting in anticipation of me taking him out for a jaunt around Oldbrook Green. I usually wait until past 9 o'clock because otherwise we will be inundated with children going to school and have to wait for the traffic to go by crossing the road onto Oldbrook Green.

I've been for a drive out in the car. As it's been sitting on the parking space at Dexter House and not being driven anywhere in particular, I thought it advisable to give it a run out to keep the battery charged and avoid having to get it started as I had to a few months back. No problems. It starts fine. It should do, as it's recently been serviced. I just need to keep it in good running order.

I drove past Crownhill,  which is where we lived after we were married in 2007. I can't believe the changes. The road layout is different because there is  now a housing estate opposite Crownhill,. which used to be open agricultural land when we lived there. The wooded area which borders it was where we used to walk the dogs, which now has an entrance driven through it into the estate, with a roundabout. Just unrecognisable.

(Thursday) I went to Sainsbury's in Witan Gate after 8 o'clock yesterday morning as pension money went into my account earlier. I had things to get for Christmas. As I will be staying here over the festive period, I wanted to make sure I could get stuff which was likely to be in short supply, such as mince pies, Christmas pudding, brandy butter and turkey, although I didn't intend buying a whole turkey. Just be far too big, would never fit in my oven, so I had a look on the Sainsbury's website and saw you could buy a turkey roast, boneless (presumably) and made of turkey meat and stuffing. So, ideal for my purposes. There was one on the shelf when I went to look in the store and snapped it up immediately as if it was the last one, what was the chance of there being more the next time I visited? Probably too big for one, but I can make the most of it when it's cold, in sandwiches etc, after Christmas.

I drove into the centre of Milton Keynes to meet up with a lady I met on a Christian website. We have met up several times before. I wanted to go to Costa for coffee to try out their limited edition drinks based on Nestlé chocolate products and had an After Eight hot chocolate which came with a very generous dollop of cream on top and a single After Eight mint and at the very bottom of the drinking glass was some gooey and thick chocolate sauce which you can only eat with a long spoon. I can recommend this and want to try the rest of the range, which I think is only available over the Christmas period.

When I got home I found that a card from the Post Office had put through the door, informing me that a parcel was at the sorting office, because the postman had attempted to deliver it. Having walked so far over the past couple of hours, I wasn't ready to drive to collect it from the sorting office in Brinklow (I knew exactly where it was as I've had to collect parcels from there before now.) According to my FitBit I had walked approximately six miles! I can well believe it. 

My anticipation for whatever the parcel contained knew no bounds. So, on Friday morning I drove to the sorting office in Brinklow. There was a queue outside as only one person at a time was allowed into the waiting area. I eventually reached the window and handed over the card which had been put through the door. I had to provide identity so I showed my Driving Licence. And, lo and behold! The lady behind the counter handed over a parcel and it was clear that it was from Chloe and Steve. In her usual style, Chloe had written humorous messages all over the box and it reminded me to 'not open until 25th December. Alfie had a good sniff when I put it on the floor in the lounge, so I imagine it contains (amongst other items.) some sort of food item, possibly some doggy treats for his nibs.

Wind Drops and Sun Shines

After the almost galeforce winds of the past few days, today it's a good deal calmer. According to reports on the internet yesterday evening there were 60-70 m.p.h. winds around Milton Keynes. The sun has been out for part of the morning, although the wind strength has reduced considerably.  But the remaining fence around our garden has not been blown down, fortunately, but in some respects, miraculously. Apparently the Tesco Express branch in Tinker's Bridge had it's facia damanged by the high winds and had to be removed by firemen. There is a 'Yellow' weather warning in place for the area. There are four levels of weather warnings given by the Met Office, each given a colour. They are as follows:

Green: No severe weather

Yellow: Be aware

Orange: Be prepared

Red: Take action

I've never come across these coloured weather warnings before, so at least I've leant something new.

A change of subject. Our Post seems to come at any time, or so it seems. At one time, and not that long ago, you could virtually tell the time by the Post being delivered. Where I used to live in Bedford, we had two deliveries at one time. The first was at approximately 7 a.m. and then there'd be a second at 11 a.m. or at least around that time. Now we're lucky to get it at midday or even 2 p.m. I know they've cut the early delivery, but why do you have to wait most of the morning to any delivery at all? I was annoyed this morning (the delivery was just after midday.) to get a card pushed through the door, informing me that I would have to pay £1.50 because an item (not sure whether it was a parcel or a letter.) hadn't got the correct amount payed on it. So, I'll either have to drive to the sorting office at Brinklow which is about two miles from here and pay to get the item or I can pay using a credit or debit card on-line and they will deliver the item within two days. I'm intrigued to know what this item is and why whoever sent it forgot to put the correct amount of postage on it. I just hope that whatever it is is worth the £1.50. I'll just have to wait and see.