Saturday August 30th 2025 "Why not quit your job and follow your dream, however depraved it may be haha!!"

Follow your dream! That's what they tell young people these days, so you can't blame the girlfriend of local man Blake McNally from taking that a bit too literally perhaps [Source: Onion News for East Hampshire]. 

Poor Blake !!!!!

But reading the story this morning, here in semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire, not a million miles away from Blake and his girlfriend (!), my light-to-moderate wife Lois and I are going to shock many readers of my blog, when we say "Right on, that woman !!!!" - we believe wholeheartedly in people following their dreams, however depraved they might seem to the casual observer(!).

my light-to-moderate wife Lois and me - a recent picture

Lois and I are currently hosting my sister Jill for a couple of days, and spending the whole day chatting about this and that, the old days etc, including a walk through nearby Radford Park. But in some ways the most shocking revelation we hear today is that Jill's daughter Maria and her husband Tom, who've been working all their lives in high finance in London's financial district, have always secretly wanted to start their own sommelier business - Tom is really into wines, apparently - in a good way, I hasten to add. I'm not suggesting he's an alcoholic (!)

Lois and me with my sister Jill doing an "old codger" walk

through nearby Radford Park, and checking out its iconic duck pond

The other shocking revelation that comes out of Jill's visit here this weekend is how much Jill and I have aged, and I don't think it's because of excessive wine-drinking - perhaps it's our other "guilty pleasures": all the overindulgence in salsa dancing, rock climbing and karaoke, as per Blake's girlfriend (see Onion story above) !!!!

(left) flashback to 1960: Jill and me in the back garden of our parents' home

in Redland, Bristol, and (right) today, for one of our occasional reunions,

here this morning in rural, semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire

To see on our faces what life has done to us, and how much we've both aged, is a bit of a shocking discovery after 65 years, I have to say. It must be all the worry haha !!!

We certainly don't drink a lot of wine. And another indulgence all 3 of us deny "dabbling in" is excessive use of frankincense. I've never been exactly sure what it is - I've sometimes looked for it casually in Sainsburys and WH Smith's, Boots the Chemist even, but so far I haven't seen any on the shelves, and I've always been too embarrassed to ask for it, believe it or not.

a typical Arab person scraping some frankincense off a tree

Tonight during the latest programme from Bettany Hughes about mysterious ancient people the Nabataeans, we find out that the Romans used to order huge catering packs of frankincense, to make everything smell nice in their lives - not just each other but also their houses, which stank to high heaven, due to poor standards of hygiene and limited, if any, cleaning of carpets, beds etc - certainly no hoovering, which hadn't been invented even.

Yes the smelly old Romans used to depend on getting their frankincense every month, but there was a problem however.

The Nabataean tribe in the Arabian peninsular more or less had a monopoly on frankincense, and at one stage, 2000 years ago, they even slapped a 25% tariff on it moving in or out of their country, so Donald Trump-style tariffs are nothing new, that's for sure.

Eventually the Romans got fed up with paying the tariff, and so threatened to send an army to Arabia to just take it all over - again, very much like Donald with Greenland, Panama Canal, Canada etc. Sadly for the Romans, however, they couldn't break into the Nabataean stronghold of Marib, and had to retreat rather humiliatingly back to the Red Sea to get back in their boats and return to Rome.  

Interestingly, the Nabataeans increased the retreating Romans' misery still further, by giving them misleading directions: a local resident called Syllaeus offered to guide them back to the Red Sea, but took them the so-called "pretty way", so that when the Romans eventually got back to their boats, they were all jolly tired, to put it mildly!

The journey should really have been a couple of days, according to Googlemaps's "fastest route", but instead the Romans, guided by Syllaeus, travelled back by some very roundabout route, which took a total of 60 days, would you believe!

Poor Romans !!!!!

And how very reminiscent of the Norman invasion of England, as I recall this evening to Lois and Jill. 

Because, after crossing the English Channel in 1066, and winning the battle of Hastings, the Normans wanted to capitalise on their victory, march triumphantly into London and install their leader William of Normandy onto the English throne.

The Normans, however, weren't sure which road to take to London, and a wily Anglo-Saxon is said to have misdirected them, saying they "should take the A31, that's the best route, and not so crowded". And so somewhat gullibly the Normans went wrong, somewhere near the site of today's Chessington World of Adventure Theme Park. 

flashback to 1066: (left) the standard approach to London for Continental invaders.

and (right) the exit sign where the Normans were misdirected onto the A31 by a local

resident, delaying the capture of London for several hours: sheer madness!!!!

This "wrong turn" delayed the Normans considerably, although they eventually realised they'd been "had", and did a quick "U-turn", possibly in a layby - we don't know exactly where. And the rest is history.

But what a crazy world we live in !!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!

Friday August 29th 2025 "Too busy, too busy, too busy - we can't 'catch a break' (!) - no pun intended!!!!"

Yes, friends, "Too busy, too busy, too busy!" That's most people's cry these days, and it's heart-breaking sometimes to read about the super-wealthy, who seem to be more worse off than most of us, when it comes to just "catching a break" (!). as the local Onion News reported this morning!

Poor Whelans!!!!

And my light-to-moderate wife Lois and I are really "feelin' for the Wheelans" (!) this morning. Although we're not super-wealthy, it's 6 years, would you believe, since we last stayed at a hotel at the seaside - yes, we've got that "Wheelan feelin' ", no question! 

[Don't say that again! - Ed]

my light-to-moderate wife Lois (left) and me - recent pictures

At the moment, we've got 3 nights booked in a Bournemouth hotel on the English Channel next month, and we're determined to let nothing stop us doing it! What with COVID and other health problems we haven't stayed at the seaside since 2019. 

visions of the 3-night break in Bournemouth we've planned for next month

- and we're just "gagging" for it, to put it mildly!!!!

However, before we can commit to all that, we spend a hectic day today here, at our home in semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire, trying to stop the "Moaning Minnies" who are trying to stop us "catching that break" next month. 

Kevin, an engineer from our water company South East Water, comes to see if there's a leak in our water supply pipe. which he does. The leak is somewhere on our property, however, so South East Water won't be pinpointing it exactly, let alone fixing it, that'll be up to us. So we spend most of the day trying to find a crazy "leak guy" who's free next week, and eventually we contact somebody called Darren who'll be coming on Tuesday with his son Colin (what a nice name - just saying!!!).  

Lois and I feel a bit like criminals, because Kevin serves us with a "Waste of Water Notice under Sections 73 and 75 of the Water Industry Act 1991". What madness !!!!!

(left) me showcasing the "Waste of Water Notice under Sections 73 and 75

of the Water Industry Act 1991" that we've been "served with" (!), and (right)

crazy leak-guy Darren, who says he can come on Tuesday to find and fix the leak

 - but what a crazy world we live in !!!!!

Hopefully now, it'll all get settled next week, and Lois and I will get our three nights at a Bournemouth hotel next month as planned. We're actually pleased that Kevin confirmed that there definitely is a leak. We got our first real water bill from South East Water this month, which claimed we were using three times the quantity of water we were using in our old house in Malvern, Worcestershire. 

The worst thing would have been if Kevin had said he couldn't see any problem, so thanks for at least helping us that much, Kevin! 

So Bournemouth, here we come!   But what madness !!!!

21:00 Yes, we all need a holiday once in a while, and the crazy Jessop family on tonight's "Here We Go" sitcom is no exception.

In tonight's episode, the Jessop family has come to Malta for a few days, but Dad (Jim Howick) is the only one looking for a bit of "culture" seemingly. Oh dear!

The real reason for choosing Malta this year, however, is so that Mum Rachel (Katharine Parkinson) can "mend fences" with her father, who recently moved to a retirement cottage in Malta from a retirement cottage in France (!).

Yes, that is a problem with so many countries isn't it - that they don't speak English. What luck that in the 19th century the good old Royal Navy was throwing its weight about in so many ideal holiday locations, like Malta, also Gibraltar and Cyprus, so that, incredibly, the people there today speak English, just like you and me.

It's a bit mad though, isn't it - be fair !!!!!

flashback to 1987: I visit Cyprus on a work trip with 2 co-workers: 

highlighted here is the Ancient Greek amphitheatre that we visited.

I'm the figure in blue shirt and shorts standing on the top

Happy days !!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!

Thursday August 28th 2025 "Are YOU in turmoil today - well so is the Universe, so join the club haha!"

Yes, Friends, you've got no excuse for not noticing the trouble all over the Universe this morning - it's "all over" today's Onion News Print Edition (see page 94!) - so it's pretty much a universal crisis (no pun intended !!!!!). 

Quite a story, wasn't it, and proof, if proof were needed, that we're now living in a universal world, not a "global" one [Don't say it! - Ed]. Or should I say "universal universe" haha! [Just quite now, Colin, don't push it! - Ed]

And did you notice that "killer" reference - no pun intended again! - to one of the Earth's major downsides for Universal Estate Agents - yes, "microplastics", a bit of a slow "killer" but they'll get us all in the end, that's for sure!

My light-to-moderate wife Lois and I have been concerned by the microplastics problem recently, after seeing a scary article in our monthly copy of "Which?", the consumer magazine.

my light-to-moderate wife Lois and me - a recent picture

We're worried now because we tend to keep our left-over food in old plastic margarine tubs and old ice-cream tubs in the fridge and freezer, which must be leaching microplastics at a rate of knots. 

our copy of "Which?", the consumer magazine,

that "plopped" through our letterbox earlier this week

And this morning, before our daily walk - today over Old Man Lowsley's Farm, we stop by the local hardware store to pick up some tinfoil containers to keep our food in, by way of an experiment. See what you think, but we think that the score-line now is "Colin-and-Lois 10, Universe 0" - back of the net (no pun intended!!!) !!!!

[That's enough unfunny puns! - Ed]

(left) I showcase our shiny new pack of tinfoil containers for our future leftovers, as we say 

"goodbye-for-ever" to what we're calling "Microplastics Inc.", and (right) our smug faces 

as we do our daily walk, today over Old Man Lowsley's Farm

If we can dodge the rain, it's what we call a "normal day" today here in semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire - a walk in the morning and an afternoon in bed, but things are going to be hotting up from tomorrow onwards, that's for sure. 

Tomorrow (Friday) somebody from our new water company South East Water is coming to check for leaks - since moving to the South East Water "catchment" area in January, our water bills have mysteriously tripled, from 50m3 to 150m3. And then on Saturday my sister Jill is arriving from Ipswich for a couple of days; and we're planning a big meal on Sunday for Jill and our daughter Alison's family, who live 5 miles away in Headley. Exciting! But also busy busy busy! 

Lois and me with my sister Jill - a recent picture

By the way, I hope you weren't taken in by that Onion News story about Estate Agents trying to "gentrify" the Earth - it was just a spoof, and another sordid case of "clickbait", I'm afraid to say! The clue is in the page number - p94, where the Onion regularly includes its popular "Leave Time For A Smile" column: need I say more!

 

The Universe and the intriguing question of "Are We Alone in the Universe" comes up again this evening, as Lois and I settle down on the sofa to watch an interesting documentary on UFOs, or "UAPs" (unidentified Aerial Phenomena) if you please, as they're called these days! What madness!

It's interesting, and revealing perhaps, that UFOs,  be they alien spacecraft or USAF experimental aircraft, have tended to change their shape with the times. They started off in the 1940's looking like giant saucers - hence the name "Flying Saucer" - or looking like various pie-shaped containers (let's hope they weren't plastic ones!).

And then suddenly, following some sightings from a medium-to-top-secret USAF project at its Area 51 base in Nevada, the supposed "aliens" switched to triangular spacecraft. All the saucer shapes went out of fashion, and triangular ones are what you mostly get "sighted" these days, from all over the world. Could it be that UFO-spotters are influenced by what they've already read about in the tabloids? 

Surely not! That would be madness !!!!

But how likely is it that we're being routinely visited by aliens from across the Universe?

And Pluto's just a planet in our own dear Solar System, so one of our neighbours almost. What madness!!!

A bit of a long journey, to put it mildly - and you'd have to take plenty to read with you on that trip, that's for sure!

Phew! Kudos, that woman!!!!

But at the same time, we can't 100% rule out alien visits n the future, unfortunately:

Well, you can't be too careful can you, when it comes to aliens. But at least we're in better shape now to notice an alien invasion if it does happen, which is a comfort!

One question remains, however. Do the aliens routinely sample our media? Are they subscribers to Which?, the consumer magazine. And if so, won't they just decide to go somewhere else that doesn't have serious microplastic issues - microplastic issues, like the magazine itself produces every few years: no pun intended!

I wonder.....!

[Just go to bed, Colin! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz!!!!