Tag Archives: congestion

End of Year – Traditions and Thoughts

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As is traditional at this point in the year, I had a look back and muttered a few platitudes on my 3,216 posts and nine years of blogging. I then decided to dump the whole lot and wrote my normal blog on the New Year Honours List. Though I am broadly in favour of an honours system, I’m not keen on what ours has become. It gives me an annual chance to moan about how popular sports attract more notice than unpopular ones and use the words “political lickspittle”. You may not have noticed that over the years, as I dump that too. I find it’s usually good to delete the serious stuff.

Having exhausted my list of thoughts for a blog post I then sat a little, thought about the pointlessness of life, listened to my chest rattling and, as a first in my blogging career, wrote the words “then I took a shot from my inhaler.” I think I’m gradually getting better with the inhaler, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference. However,I know from past experience that I hve to use it so I can tell the doctor it makes no difference. They like to know these things. If you fail to use something because you don’t think the signs are bad enough, you get told off for not using it.

The big inhaler (two shots before bed and two more on waking) does make a difference, I slept for hours last night and would have felt wonderful if it hadn’t been for the dreams about drowning. At about 5.30 I woke after dreaming several different dreams about drowning (fortunately only short ones) and found I was fighting for breath. Clearly I still need to cough while I’m asleep, even if I do find it annoying. I’ve always worried about drowning after falling in a stream whilst fishing when I was about five years old. I was never in any danger as I was with my father, my uncle and two of my cousins, but the memory of sinking under the surface stays with me now, as I write about it. However, it didn’t feature in last night’s dream. I’m fairly sure the dream was out of a film, though I can’t recall which one. I may go without the inhaler tonight, just to make sure I keep coughing to clear my airways. I can do without a repeat.

Dolphin – Sutton on Sea

“The Dolphin” is the name of the chip shop containing the tiles. I thought I’d point this out before someone told me they aren’t actually Dolphins.

The Long Way Home

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Tonight we had a customer who dawdled so I set off home ten minutes late. With the addition or rain, roadworks and a broken down car, this turned my journey home into a 50 minute marathon. With clear roads in the morning I expect the reverse journey with take ten to fifteen minutes. When I got home Julia was already there, looking wet and bedraggled. She had been caught in the rain and her bus journey home had been even more unpleasant than my car trip.

The trouble is Goose Fair. The bus had actually had to make a couple of diversions to avoid the worst blockages.

The truth is that the city streets are not suited to the rush of visitors that accompanies the fair. It should be moved out to the edge of the city. Unfortunately nobody wants it on their doorstep. The noise and smell of fried onions are a nuisance, but they aren’t great inconveniences. Even the parking problems and congestion aren’t the worst things. That is, as one of my friends once told me, the feeling that anything in your garden that isn’t nailed down is likely to be stolen.

They used to cancel their milk for the duration of the fair as it was always stolen. OK, that’s a long time ago (I’m not sure anyone delivers milk now) but the principle remains the same. It’s here for ten days this year, supposedly to allow the stallholders to recover after Covid. It’s going to be an unpleasant interlude.

It shouldn’t affect my journey much but it is not going to be much fun for Julia.  We may have to look at an alternative route home for her. In the mornings we will continue to take the long way round and avoid the place.

Yes, I’m a grumpy sod, and yes, it isn’t the view that usually makes it into the local papers But it’s all good source material for my future biographer.

 

Vegetable soup from October 2014. Was it really so long ago? Top picture is home made piccalilli.

Out for a Curry

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We went for a curry tonight – three shop staff and five customers celebrating a birthday. For reasons of internet security I won’t tell you who was having a birthday, which birthday it was or what the exact date is. I can, however, tell you that it wasn’t mine.

I had a nice mild curry, drank tonic water and only spilt down my shirt once. My days of raucous behaviour and painfully hot curries are over. As my 60th birthday chugs over the horizon I have finally discovered the benefits of middle age.

Life is good/

The only fly in the ointment was that I was late due to a heavily congested ring road, but as the people in the crash were clearly having a worse day than me I listened to the radio and tried patience.

I’m not sure I like patience so I may revert to shouting next time it happens.

That’s all for now.