Early Morning

It's early morning on Wednesday. I've tried going out a good deal later with Alfie, but he has sat on the sofa beside me and has been staring intently at me, expecting something to happen. I tried my hardest to avoid eye-contact but it wouldn't work. So, I got dressed, having had my bowl of Shreddies and my mug of tea. Alfie's not satisfied until he gets the dregs at the bottom of my mug. I know, I know, tell me off for sharing my mug or my bowl or plate with a dog? It won't hurt. I know Chloe was horrified when I went to stay with her over Christmas. It was difficult for Alfie to not have his tea in the morning or when I'd finished. But does it matter? I don't think so. Having dressed and taken my medication, I got Alfie hooked up with his lead on his harness (a better arrangement than using his collar because it doesn't put stress on his neck.) The whole neighbourhood knows when Alfie's about because of the noise he makes as we go out of the front door. It turns out to be a good deal milder this morning. No frost on the car.

We do our usual walk around Eaglestone Park but go a good deal further. We get as far as the Redway which runs along the side of Marlborough Street. The traffic is relatively heavy. It's going much too fast. People seem to treat the grid roads like a speedway. Then we come out where the Redway goes under the grid road, and back towards home along the Redway behind the houses.

I've been to put diesel in the car this morning. I go to the BP station along Childs Way. It means I will earn extra Nectar points. I then drive out and onto Marlborough Street and then round into Witan Gate as I want to get to Sainsbury's. I have to collect a repeat prescription from Lloyd's which is inside Sainsbury's. I have a further repeat prescription to collect but that won't be done until later in the week.

I've been asked if I'd like to take part in the quiz night at the Oaktree Centre on Friday night. It seems that someone else can't take part. I say yes, because I haven't ever been involved in a quiz before. I love television gameshows such as 'Eggheads,' where at least the questions are relatively hard. Even being able to answer some of the questions on 'University Challenge' surprises me because some of them are really hard. Then there's ''Only Connect,' where the questions are notoriously difficult, having to find the link between three questions or other things. It's compered by Victoria Coren-Mitchell. Some of her remarks are what you might call 'off the wall.' These were some of Carol's favourite television shows. I'm also doing a course at church on Thursday evenings, called 'Freed To Lead.' Who knows what this may lead to? I'm also going on the 'set-up' team to being involved with setting up for Sunday services, so I'm not sitting around doing nothing at the moment, as well as going to the coffee morning which meets at John Lewis's café for people who've been bereaved and connected to Willan Hospice.

I've been to Willen this afternoon. I was annoyed to discover that Chaffron Way was once again closed off at the Marlborough Street roundabout so I had to get to Willen along Childs Way. It would be nice to be informed of such closures well in advance of the actual road closure. It seemed that the same was going on the other way along Chaffron Way. Whether it was for resurfacing or some other matter I have no idea, but still, it must be annoying for any businesses in the area. 

A lot More Television Annoyances

I can't believe I can find even more things that annoy me about television.

Why do so many presenters have to speak as if they're talking to a classroom-full of Primary School children? The worst offender being Kate Humble. She speaks with such a cloyingly-nauseating voice I just want to throw up. It's so twee that it puts me off some programmes such as Springwatch and the other similar wildlife shows. It's as if we, the viewer, were totally unintelligent and have to be spoken down to in this fashion because we probably don't understand things if talked about in a more grown-up fashion. Please, television producers, treat your audience as if they're at least grown up. Or I just won't bother watching and go elsewhere for stuff to watch. Shows aimed at children, such as 'Blue Peter,' never talked down to the children they were aimed at. Even 'Play School' managed to avoid that and it was aimed at pre-school children.

So many gameshows have questions that are just plain easy. 'Tipping Point' is one such gameshow which has ridiculously easy questions. There's no sort of anything if it's easy. If you can answer every question then what's the point of the whole thing? Shows such as 'University Challenge' have particularly difficult questions, as you would expect, although we're able to answer quite a few of them. I know they have to aim their gameshows at a wide range of abilities and no doubt if they had questions that are too difficult it would put a huge section of the public off watching, but if it's just plain simplistic then it's crazy.