A somewhat wasted morning for Lois and me. Mark, our IT "Mr. Fixit" guy told us yesterday that he would be bringing back our ancient desktop and ancient laptop back to us "after a couple of early morning calls" - we imagined that this would mean he'd be with us about 10 or 11 o'clock at the latest, so we spend the time hanging around waiting and doing little bits of pieces of work here and there.
Mark, our friendly neighbourhood computer "Mr. Fixit" guy
In fact Mark doesn't arrive till 12:15 pm, just when we're about to have lunch - damn!
Still we're pleased to see him nevertheless - we've been dreaming about having fast computers again: my god! How shallow we've become!!!
But we have little to show for the morning otherwise. Lois has cleared up some storm damage in the back garden. Storm Eunice took advantage of our absence a couple of weeks ago to smash some of our "spare" panes of glass, that she had stacked up against a fence.
flashback to February 18th when Storm Eunice blew in
from the Atlantic - YIKES !!!!!
here Lois showcases some of the partially damaged panes of glass
(standing up against her raised beds) that she thinks she can still use
Waste not, want not - that's what our mothers told us long ago haha!
here Lois showcases a cardboard box full of
the unusable or downright dangerous fragments
Meanwhile I manage to print off a year's bank statements - I need to work out what we pay out each year on various items: food, utilities, travel, insurance etc. This is in preparation for our introductory zoom meeting with our financial advisor - we've never had a financial advisor before, so it'll be quite an experience. We need to see how best we can help our daughter Sarah and her family move back to the UK.
14:00 Another unfortunate result of waiting in for Mark this morning is that Lois and I don't get our morning walk round the football field and our weekly glimpse of the local Old Codgers' soccer practice session. So Lois goes out for a substitute walk this afternoon instead, while I do the dreaded List A of the exercises that Connor, my NHS physiotherapist, has scheduled for me today. But I skip the 5 mile ride on my exercise bike - a bit naughty, but I am naughty sometimes, I have to confess: I know it's hard to believe haha!
14:30 Lois gets back, and I'm pleased to see that she remembered to take her phone with her. I'm always encouraging her to do this, so she can improve her selfie skills and take any "arty" pictures she feels inspired to create. She comes back today with one example of each, which is nice.
a nice selfie - I particularly like the odd-shaped
cloud floating above Lois's head here
here the image off a somewhat distant early-blossoming hedge
is counterpointed by the slightly menacing shadow
of the photographer - very Harold Pinter I think.
Well done, Lois !!!!!
One of our most influential TV adverts in recent years has been the price comparison website comparethemarket.com, which features a cuddly Russian meerkat. This meerkat asks how we can get best value for money out of the service providers we pay for, and he proclaims, in a Russian accent, that the decision is "simples".
This is a phrase which I often use myself, and it's a phrase that Lois tells me has entered some of the official English dictionaries. The website itself has nothing to do with Russia, apparently, it's based somewhere in the Midlands - Peterborough actually. Now, however, the website is faced with having to drop its influential, cuddly "mascot", because of the backlash here against Russia.
Russia just isn't "cuddly" any more, and I can't see it recovering now from its new image.
What a crazy world we live in !!!
19:00 After dinner we sit down in front of our new invigorated "ancient desktop" - will it breathe new life into "ancient us"? Well, who knows, it's worth a try, that's for sure - nothing else works haha!
We order our 2nd week of 3 meals or 2 from the Hellofresh meal-kit company, which will be delivered on Saturday. Last week it was our free introductory order, this week it's just "reduced price", but still we might as well take advantage of the offer.
We choose: (1) BBQ Sausage Skewers with cheesy wedges and rocket salad. (2) Thai-style rice pork bowl with green beans, coriander and rice, and (3) Naked cheeseburgers with caramelized onion, sweet potato wedges and salad.
19:30 A phone-call with Alison, our daughter who lives in Headley, Hampshire with Ed and their 3 children Josie (15), Rosalind (13) and Isaac (11).
Josie took part in the finals of a junior piano competition in Bognor Regis at the weekend, part of the Chichester Festival. She didn't win but she scored 87%, like the other 2 losing finalists. The winner got 88% - my god, talk about "close"!!!!
Rosalind is growing up fast now too - she played waitress at her uncle Tom's 40th birthday party at the weekend, arriving there at 7:30pm and only leaving at midnight - my god (again) !!!!
The family have taken delivery of their new Citroen EC4 electric car. At the moment they are recharging it by taking it to a garage in Bordon about a mile away, where the process takes about an hour, Ali says. She takes something to read with her. This Thursday the family are due to have a charging point installed at their house, which will be more convenient.
flashback to last month: Ed and Isaac pick out the family's
new electric car, a Citroen EC4
20:00 After our call with Ali, Lois gets a call from Gillian, a fellow-member of the sect Lois belongs to. They are pretty much now the local church's "welfare" committee, so periodically they discuss what to do about members who are ill or have other problems. Lois is a good person to have doing that kind of job - she's so kind-hearted. If only I could be more like her !!!!!
an evening of phone calls - my god !!!!!
The questions are unbelievably obscure and complicated. Lois and I think we caught the King's captain having to stop himself laughing when he hears one of the more convoluted questions that they're faced with tonight. My god!!!!
Incredibly, however, Lois and I manage to answer 7 questions that the students strike out on, but 3 of those are due to a set of questions on so-called "kitchen sink" films of the 1950's and 1960's. As the students' average age is about 21, they understandably fail to get any of that particular set of questions right.
And who can blame them!!! Poor students !!!!
1. Born in Bologna in 1737, which scientist investigated the effects of what he conceived to be electricity in animal tissue? He gives his name to a process that protects ferrous metals against exposure to the atmosphere by the application of a coating of zinc.
Students: Galvin (King's), Galvini (Emmanuel)
Colin and Lois: Galvani
2. Who was the Italian composer of this controversial chorus? [Excerpt of choral singing plays]
Students: Mascagni
Colin and Lois: Verdi - Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves
3, North of Inverness, what is the name of a port on the Cromarty Firth that gives its name to the Royal Navy mutiny of 1931?
Students: Inveraray
Colin and Lois: Invergordon
4. Derived from the Greek word for "summit", what 8-letter word denotes a short inscription, included in a book or manuscript, that provides details on its publication, such as the name of the publisher and the date of printing.
Students: epitaph (King's), epigraph (Emmanuel)
Colin and Lois: colophon
5, 6 and 7. Students are shown stills from 3 so-called "kitchen sink" films from the 1950's and 1960's, none of which they can identify, unsurprisingly. These are:
this one's from "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" (1960)
Later, I discover on the Daily Express website that Lois and I were not alone in thinking the question-setters need a kick in the pants over tonight's episode of the quiz.
But what madness it all is !!!!!
Synopsis: Timothy Lumsden is a 41-year-old librarian whose mother won't let him cut the apron strings. He takes an attraction to Annette, a new member of his Amateur Dramatics Group, and is determined to take her to a dance aboard a river boat. After his mother puts all of his trousers in the wash, he has to wear a cat costume from a previous drama production, to attend the dance.
Tremendous fun, and the right sort of programme to go to bed on, no doubt about that. Why don't they write "funny-line" sitcoms any more? All we get these days is those feeble so-called "comedy dramas".
21:30 We continue to watch a bit of television.
The highlight of the evening for us now, is to see the very first episode of the 1980's sitcom "Sorry!", a series which the Forces TV channel has just started to repeat.
It stars comedian Ronnie Corbett as 41-year-old timid, apologetic librarian Timothy Lumsden, who still lives at home with his possessive mother, who is always trying to stop him meeting girls, and his vague but well-meaning father.
the stars of the 1980's sitcom "Sorry!": left to right - William Moore
as Timothy's vague father, Barbara Lott as Timothy's possessive mother, and
Ronnie Corbett as Timothy, the 41-year-old librarian who still lives with them
What a crazy world we live in !!!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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