06:30 "My name is Colin and I am a nosy neighbour" (phrase copyright Michael Caine and Harry Enfield). Film actor Michael Caine, for all his wealth, was famously curious about the "suspiciously mundane" behaviour of his apparently mild-mannered neighbours.
And I know how Michael felt - our own neighbours are also suspiciously mild-mannered and indulge in suspiciously mundane activities - it's kind of creepy isn't it!
But I've known for some time from the internet that one of our neighbours is actually a "personal trainer" with a mini-gym, and has been advertising for clients. And today, I happened to look out our bedroom window at 6:30 am and I saw a mysteriously tall stranger arrive on a bicycle and go into the so-called "mini-gym".
It was pretty difficult to see what was going on inside, but the door was open, presumably for COVID hygiene purposes, and our neighbour, the personal trainer, was also in there. And I could tell that some repetitive movements were going on in there for the next hour, probably on the "bench-press" front, or whatever they call it these days!
Just after 7:30 I look through the curtains and I see the tall visitor come out again and go off on his bike, no doubt to go on to his regular 9-to-5 job. So people must book 60-minute sessions, seemingly.
I guess that's the kind of thing young people do nowadays. What a crazy world we live in !!!!!
Anyway, very satisfying - another piece of the puzzle, and another mystery solved. Lois and I had wondered why the guy didn't seem to have any customers, but now we know: they come at the crack of dawn. What madness!!!
10:00 I get out of bed and leave Lois lying there - she has an upset stomach today, so doesn't want any breakfast. Later on she seems to be feeling better, which is nice.
I get going with the so-called "List A" of the exercises that Connor, my NHS physiotherapist has scheduled for me today. I follow this up in the afternoon with a 4.5 mile ride on my exercise bike.
16:00 Lois's tummy is back to normal, so we both have a cup of tea on the couch. We speak on the phone to my sister Gill in Cambridge, and hear a bit more about her daughter Maria's wedding last Friday to her long-term partner Tom.
This much postponed wedding, that originally was going to happen in the spring of 2020 but got shelved because of the pandemic, was necessarily limited, by Government regulations, to 15 people including the couple. But Gill says, the result was a much more satisfyingly intimate affair than it would have been last year, and this was nice especially for Maria, who's a shy lass.
Gill also told us a bit more about mystery man David, the BBC journalist, adopted as a baby, who's discovered, thanks to a DNA data base, that he's closely related to Gill and me. He also got close DNA matches with other people who must be on his father's side - we think his father was Irish.
Gill and I have to be careful about proceeding until some of our relatives have given the go-ahead for further contacts with David. David is understandably really keen about finding out who his birth-parents were, and Gill has already shown him the only picture she has of his mother, which really was a big thrill to him - quite an emotional moment for David, who is 62 or so, finally to see his birth-mother. Gill asks me to see if I have pictures of his mother too - I'm sure I have some, so I'll try and find these in the next few days.
Gill has also told him where his mother is buried, which is in the same plot as his maternal grandparents, and also mine and Gill's mother - yikes! Gill thinks David is likely to be visiting the grave in the next few days.
20:00 Lois and I settle down on the couch to watch a bit of TV. With the return of our favourite TV quiz shows this week - University Challenge, and Only Connect - we feel that at long last there is guaranteed to be something on TV that isn't totally stupid haha!!!
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