Monday August 4th 2025 "Got any windows in YOUR house? They're no longer regarded as a 'luxury' are they!"

Yes, dear Reader - have you got any windows in your house or flat? Once a luxury, they're now regarded as a necessity by us and our fellow pleasure-orientated UK residents, aren't they!

But 'Twas not always thus'  (!!!!). Remember when my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois and I were "plundering" the second-hand bookshops of Hay-on-Wye some 20 years ago, and we came across this vintage copy of Onion News, one of Britain's oldest newspapers?

Poor Ernault !!!!  Still we've all got to go some time, haven't we!!!!

Today, windows are regarded as essential, Lois and I realise that, and our current home in rural, semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire already has several in place, fortunately, although some of them don't really "work" to our full satisfaction, Lois and I have discovered since moving in just 7 months ago. And that's just one of the house's defects that we're determined to start sorting out this week, as well as getting new window blinds, plus an automatic garage door to replace the wonky old one. 

my wife Lois and me - a recent picture

flashback to October: we view our new home for the first time

(arrows shockingly indicate some of the dodgy windows!!!!)

A good thing, in hindsight, that that poor peasant Ernault (see Onion News story above) has "passed" - he'd have been green with envy if he'd lived to see some of the changes we've got in mind. His garage doors were always getting stuck, we discovered from reading his 'back story' (see page 94 of the same edition) !!!! 

All a bit grim, though, isn't it, for a Monday morning !!!!!! 

Luckily, for Lois and me, some light relief is on the way today, in the form of an email from Steve, our American brother-in-law, detailing his pick of the week's most amusing Venn diagrams, which give us a chuckle, to put it mildly!

Pay special attention to the second diagram: "halfway through the labyrinth of Ikea: getting sidetracked by irrelevant things, losing all sense of purpose".

Sound familiar ????!!!!

It's all too easy, nowadays, isn't it, to get lost in one of our larger stores, especially if you're in a large group, Lois and I have found, and it isn't a new phenomenon, to put it mildly, and it's well represented in the canons of Western culture (!).

Remember, way back in the 19th century, when, in Zola's masterful "L'Assommoir", a huge party of 12 Parisian wedding guests gets lost in the L'Ouvre, unable to find the exit, and eventually decides to spend the night in the museum's iconic "beds through the ages" department?

Zola's wedding guests - later they get lost in the Louvre Museum

and wander around for hours looking for the exit, finally

spending the night in the museum's "beds through the ages" section

Or, to bring the theme bang up to date, remember when maverick Irish priest Father Ted, with a party of 7 other priests, got lost in the lingerie section of a large Dublin department store?

Poor Ted !!!!!

But it's just one more hazard of modern life isn't it, and we've somehow got to learn how to cope with it, willy-nilly, I'm sorry to have to point out!

20:00 And there are more life-lessons for Lois and me tonight, as we settle down on the couch to see another programme in Michael Moseley's series on "Secrets of the Superagers".

Some of this stuff Lois and I already knew - like keeping your skin youthful by staying out of the sun, and getting lots of sleep - something we have never had any problem with, fortunately! 

We didn't know, however, that stress really can make your hair turn grey or white. However, surprisingly it's a change can be reversed, if, and only if, you immediately follow the period of stress with a period of really intense "R&R". This will make the original colour of your hair  come bouncing back: too late for Lois and me, this little "nugget", sadly!!!!

The 'takeaway' that we like the best is that it helps to stop ageing if you behave as if you were, say 20 years younger, do what you enjoy doing, and, above all, have lots of fun! It's been proven to make you look younger, give you better eyesight and hearing, and rejuvenates you all round. Who knew!

In a study conducted at Harvard University a group of 70-year-olds were asked to behave as if they were 20 years younger: they had to listen to the music and wear the clothes that they would have done in their 50's. 

The sad thing the study concluded, is that many seniors , without realising it, are conforming to the stereotype of being old. 

And in tonight's programme presenter Michael talks to Diana, a 75-year-old native of Los Angeles, who has decided to pick up again the passion of her youth - being a majorette.

Fascinating stuff isn't it, and inspiring. Lois and I think we do a lot of fun things already, but perhaps we need to start doing them outside the house, as long as we don't fall foul of the law haha  (!). 

Suggestions wanted - postcards only !!!!!

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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