Nandos Meal , Electric Daisy Carnival Noise and Conking Hoover

The weather has been warm and pleasant today. It's as if summer has decided to arrive at last. I know it's somewhat mundane to mention it, but the Hoover decided to pack up yesterday. I'm in charge of keeping things spick and span while Carol is at work and I was attempting to vacuum the lounge and I was using the Hoover and it just would not pick up properly. I had noticed that it had been playing up for the past few weeks but thought no more about it. I spent some time unblocking it. It soon gets full of fluff and dog hair (Poppy has a particularly long coat which sheds and there is quite a lot of this hair about the house.) The machine was also giving of a rather nasty smell, sort of hot. So, after mentioning this to Carol when she got home from work she thought it might need replacing. Not such an efficient machine as it might have been so we ordered a new cleaner from Very, the on-line company which we have bought quite a few items from over the years. The new vacuum was delivered promptly on Friday morning, barely 24 hours after being ordered. It is a Vax model.

One of Carol's work colleagues was leaving Milton Keynes Academy and returning to Canada, so a table was booked at Nando's in The Hub. We drove there at 6.45. It was a pleasant enough meal but it was so noisy in the restaurant that you couldn't hear anybody talking which really spoilt the evening. I cannot understand why they have loud music playing, which means you have to shout to be heard. As a result we didn't stay long. I was nice to get out for the evening. I'm not sure I'd recommend the place if someone else wanted to go out for a meal. It seems a problem in most of these places. People seem so obsessed by mobile phones, texting and so on, that the art of decent communication seems to have gone out of the window.

We've had to endure another weekend of the most awful din from the National Bowl. The Electric Daisy Carnival were on. I don't personally know why we have to have so much loud noise (not in the slightest can it be described as 'music.' Just bang, bang, bang, thump, thump for must of the afternoon on Saturday and didn't finish until 11 p.m.) A bit difficult when it's so warm and you want to get to sleep, have the window closed because if you don't our two dogs bark when they hear odd noises outside. I know, sorry, I'm not of the age which is supposed to like this sort of thing, but it's so intrusive and unpleasant. I just hope they leave the site of the National Bowl clean and tidy because last year when this event was on and we drove past the following morning, the amount of litter left along the Grid Road near the site was disgraceful.

Rubbish Left After 'Electric Daisy' Carnival'

On our way back from our outing to Whispnade we went over to Hobbycraft at Rooksley as Carol wanted to buy a magazine on dolls houses. We looked all over the place within the store and could find nothing regarding the model-making of dollhouses. They have recently up-graded the store, which we visit regularly, and the layout has changed considerably. We could have purchased a magazine about dolls houses in W.H.Smith in the central shopping centre, but it was easier to park outside the store in the retail park rather than going into central Milton Keynes. We found the racks which contained magazines on a variety of hobbyist topics and there was a dolls house magazine, but not actually the one Carol had wanted. We had to queue up at the tills to pay and when we got there and asked the cashier where the dolls house bits and pieces were she told us that they were no longer available in any Hobbycraft store due to the fact that people stole the stuff. They were available, though, through their website. She even said that, it might be that Hobbycraft might close it's bricks-and-mortar stores and only have an on-line presence. Sad if that's the case. It would be awful if traditional stores were to disappear altogether, even though internet shopping is more convenient and easier. The only problem is having to wait for your order to arrive and the possibility of fraud.

We drove back home via Watling Street and then along Chaffron Way and past the National Bowl. We were absolutely horrified by the amount of litter all along the verges and on the side of the grid roads around the bowl, presumably left by the crowds who had attended the Electric Daisy Carnival  concert yesterday. It seems some people have absolutely no thought as regards their care for the environment or the fact that merely dropping their litter is just downright untidy and that someone is going to have to go and pick it up. If the promoters of such events cannot clear up after their concerts then they shouldn't be allowed to put on such events or else employ people to clear up the mess.

Another Visit To Whipsnade Zoo and Loud Music

We went swimming early at D.W. Fitness yesterday morning. Unfortunately there are roadworks along the road near the foootball stadium. There were crowds of people going into the campus which is where the gym is situated (the opposite side near the shopping mall which houses Next, Marks and Spencer as well as the new cinema and a parade of restaurants which opened recently with an IMAX screen.) We couldn't turn right where we usually go as there was a man there making sure we didn't turn in so we had to drive on to the large roundabout near IKEA and come back on the other side of the road. There were even more people going into the stadium and a great many vehicles parked. We couldn't work out what was going on, but it turned out to be something to do with Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm not going to say any more about it, but presumably it was some sort of convention or something. Must have been a fair-sized meeting if they were using the football ground which has a capacity of quite a few thousand. We did eventually manage to get into the gym and park in the normal place which is reserved for members, but we have to now give the reception our car's registration number because some people are parking there who have no right to as they aren't members. From the gym we went to Marks and Spencer's and did some shopping before leaving for home

We had to endure the most appalling noise for most of yesterday. From something called the Electric Daisy Carnival, which was taking place at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes. There have been a few concerts held there over the past few years. Last year we had a really loud concert and a few years. Last year it was 'The Kings of Leon' and the year before that it was 'The Prodigy' and the language that came over the loudpeakers was quite appalling. I'm not a pop fan particularly, although there is some music I enjoy, but I see no reason on earth why we have to endure such loud music. We must live between 3 and 4 miles from the stadium, but the sound carries all this way. At some point in the evening, presumably when it's warm and the air is still, it's like having those speakers in the next garden to us. But yesterday you could hardly call it 'music.' Just his loud thump, thump thump! The noise was just awful and when it's so warm we had to have the windows open to sleep in our bedroom. It started mid-morning, when presumably they were running sound checks, and it didn't finish until 11 p.m., by which time we were tearing our hair out and wishing, in all truth, that we'd gone out for the day. The only problem is, had we done so, we might not have been able to get back into Milton Keynes because of the traffic. 

Today, Sunday, we visited Whipsnade Zoo again. After yesterday's traumatic experience regarding the loud music from the so-called Electric Daisy Carnival, we just needed to get out of Milton Keynes for a few hours. It has been a good deal cooler today, thankfully, but just the right temperature for a day at the zoo. We watched the 'Sealion Splash', which was highly entertaining. We have seen this before when we have visited in the past, but it's always worthwhile. We saw the 'Birds of The World' presentation a few weeks ago and when we come again we want to see the elephant presentation. We had something to eat and drink in one of the restaurants which I must say have improved considerably since we came a few years ago. In general they have managed to improve the facilities, such as the toilets and the shop.