Penultimate

I just did a search through my blogs for "Morse" and sure enough he pops up quite a few times. Not that surprising really given that I'd decided in 2011 (as mentioned in this blog) that I was going to read all of the Morse books from start to finish. In fact it was particularly interesting to look back at this post, as I mention the fact that I was reading the series of books as a way of building up towards the dreaded "Remorseful Day" which I still haven't read yet. Well, we are nearly there now, as I have finished the penultimate book, "Death is now my neighbour", and will have to face it fairly soon.

It was interesting to revisit my observations made at the end of book one - how Morse and Lewis had just started to work together, and how there was a reminder at the end of book one that Morse hadn't yet revealed his first name to the world (something which he has just done in a postcard to Lewis at the end of this book).

As the books have gone on, whilst the crimes and the twists and turns of solving them are a hugely important part, for me it is the relationship between Morse and Lewis that is the heart of the stories (and therefore probably one of the reasons why picking up the last of them isn't a prospect I relish).

I made the same point at the end of my comments about "The Daughters of Cain" when Morse explained how he would miss Lewis if he retired from the force, and in the same way as I did in that post, there are a couple of brief passages from this book that I would like to share.

The first comes mid way through the book. Morse has been admitted to hospital, having just been diagnosed with diabetes, and is told that for the time being, he won't be able to have any visitors, not even if they are close relatives.

"I haven't got any close relatives," said Morse.

Matthews now stood at the foot of his bed. "You've already had somebody wanting to see you, though. Fellow called Lewis."

After Matthews had gone, Morse lay back and thought of his colleague. And for several minutes he felt very low, unmanned as he was with a strangely poignant gratitude.

The second excerpt comes right at the end of the book. Morse has gone for a weekend away, and his companion persuades him to send a postcard to Lewis. It arrives, and Lewis reads it just as his wife is making his usual tea.

Then, turning over the card, he read Morse's small, neat handwriting on the back. What he read moved him deeply; and when Mrs Lewis shouted through from the kitchen that the eggs were ready, he took a handkerchief from his pocket and pretended he was wiping his nose.

Birthday

What is it with me and trips to hospitals on my wife's birthday - this really should not become a tradition!

Sorry about that sweetie - hope you still had a good day!

Love you.

xxxx

Reading update

Again, this blog seems to turn from time to time into a book-based set of reflections. But hey, I enjoy it, and after all, this is a blog written for my benefit, so I don't really feel the need to justify myself to anyone - if you're not interested, feel free to stop reading now!

I am continuing to enjoy my library membership, and one of my latest discoveries has been that I can download an App ("Overdrive") and use my membership to download and read ebooks. So, my first download was "Killing Floor", the first of the Jack Reacher novels, which as it happens I do also own in hard copy form. I'd said at the start of the year that I should finally start off with reading some Lee Child to see whether I'd enjoy them, and sure enough it was a good read. Certainly another one, along with Harlan Coben to add to my list of enjoyable US thriller writers.

This week I have also started the penultimate Morse book, "Death is now my Neighbour", which I don't think I have read before, and which is set in early 1996, so actually a little after my time in Oxford, but the place feels extremely familiar. One particular passage struck a chord with me, as Lewis is sent to the station to see if someone will appear to get on a particular train to London:

"At 9.45am Lewis was seated strategically at one of the small round tables at the refreshment area adjacent to Platform One. Intermittently an echoing loudspeaker announced arrivals or apologies for delays; and, at 9.58, recited a splendid litany of all the stops on the slow train to Reading: Radley, Culham, Appleford, Didcot Parkway, Cholsey, Goring and Streatley ..."

Some of us used to be able to quote all of the stations on the slow train to Reading by heart. It was a very familiar journey once upon a time.

Yesterday, after dropping Nicky and Christie off at the station for their trip to London and the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, I popped in to Bluewater (for a bit of birthday shopping), and whilst there enjoyed a good look around in Waterstones. So, so many books that I want to read that I don't even dare to make a list! Went in to the Costa at the back for a cappuccino and whilst there read the first half of Carl Hiaasen's "Team Rodent" (again on library ebook), which I then finished off later in the day. It is a pretty insubstantial thing - only 70-80 pages, and is also fairly out of date now, having been published in the late nineties. It deals with the author's dislike of all things Disney, from his perspective as a native of the Sunshine State, seeing what the arrival of Disney has done to Orlando and the surrounding area. As a fan of his fiction, I was intrigued to hear his perspective. However, I didn't learn very much new information. As expected, he had a go at Reedy Creek, Celebration, Animal Kingdom, the failed America project, and so on.

I guess that the only points that I would take away of interest were, (i) we all know that the deal Florida did with Disney to establish RCID was truly amazing and gave Disney carte blanche to do pretty much whatever they liked in their 43 square miles, but apparently in theory their powers go all the way up to and including building their own international airport and / or nuclear power plant, (ii) to a large extent Hiaasen's gripe isn't with WDW itself, but with the tacky and low grade tourist traps that surround Disney property hoping to secure some of the vacation dollars that don't get spent "on property" which is a pretty fair point, and (iii) given that the book is 15+ years old now, it would be interesting to hear what the author thinks about the latest state of affairs.

Finally I am enjoying "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, but am only up to February so far, so may have to blog some more about that on another occasion.

Alarming

Finished off Danny Baker's second volume, "Going Off Alarming" today, and another enjoyable read it was too.

In one of the chapters towards the end, he talked about his friendship with Paul Gascoigne, and inevitably shared some comical stories of some of the high jinks they'd got up to back in the nineties. But, it was the last couple of paragraphs in the chapter that particularly struck me:

"More than anything in the world, I would wish Paul to get well and realise, once and for all, how widely loved, respected and important he is. Though these books may include many notable people who have punctuated our pop culture over the last forty years, nobody comes close to making the impression on me that Paul Gascoigne did.

I have never met anyone like him and certainly never expect to do so again."

Beautifully put.

(After all, as anyone who knew me back in 1990 will no doubt remember, it was Paul Gascoigne who reminded us that "There will always be an England".)

Donald

For anyone who is missing the Animation Academy, I thought that the video below was fun, albeit a bit challenging!

Looking through old posts, here are a couple of previous efforts of ours, one of Tigger and one of Winnie (I'm sure we've drawn Donald before - albeit an easier, straight on version, but I don't seem to have taken pictures of our masterpieces).

I look forward to seeing your Donald drawings ...

RSJ

Been for dinner to a restaurant in London called RSJ. Apparently, yes, it was named after a piece of steel.

Food and service decidedly average but company much better.

90:12

We have a new curate at church, and it was his first service with us today. He spoke to us about the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and he was excellent at doing so. I'd heard it many times before, but I'm not sure that I'd really listened. He did a good job of asking us questions (and thankfully not expecting answers there and then) about which of the servants we might be - am I using my talents and thereby letting them multiplying, or am I hiding them away like the servant who buried the coins in a hole in the ground? If so, why - is it about being afraid (of what)?

Good questions to ponder!

As our curate pointed out, the parable doesn't end on the happiest of notes, with the third servant being thrown out into the darkness, and so he redirected us to today's psalm, which is no.90, and in particular verse 12:

Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.

By the way, the words above are from the Good News edition. The Favourite Psalms book that Mum has lent me includes Psalm 90, and it uses the New International Edition words, which are:

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

... And Party

We have tickets.

And if you can't get the cryptic clue, you'll have to wait until next June to see what for!

The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke
(1887 - 1915)

Pictures

By way of catching up with a few things, some pictures from so far this month, working backwards through the photo stream.

Firstly, here are the new bay trees (thanks very much Mum), now planted up in new pots, and in pride of place by the front door.


Also as part of this weekend's gardening, we've put a couple of bamboos by the side fence on the drive - part of the screening project. We have a third pot, but not a third bamboo yet!


And here is the shed itself (photobombed by the dog), looking pretty cool in the afternoon sun. Been discussing plans with the gardener today for getting several tonnes of gravel delivered so we can start sorting out paths (and then next stop raised beds).


For Bec's benefit, here is a picture of the lodge!


Plants that were by the front door, now relegated to the back to make way for the new bay trees.


The new Christmas ad for John Lewis hit the TV screens on Friday night, and on Saturday morning, our very own Monty and Mabel arrived!


The animals having a 'love in' on the sofa.


And finally, all the way back to last weekend, birthday dinner.

Friday

The day started with a visit from Adam the gardner to discuss the finer points of his quote, after which I headed off to the office (to be "crammed"), Nicky had a lesson to teach, and Jake went to the auction rooms and on to the coast for a nice fish and chip lunch with Nanny and Granddad.

Managed to get away from work a little bit early for some family time this evening, spent chilling out at home. Looking forward to seeing some more family over the weekend.

Costa d'Este

We've decided we wouldn't mind staying here next time we're in Vero.

Who knows, maybe Gloria could pop in and sing us a song whilst we're there?!

Card party

Sounds like tonight's card party went well - I sought refuge in the lodge.

Ferris

Two Kent meetings today, one Ashford, one Folkestone, both with companies I've not been to before. Both went ok - one certainly will be working with (as I am taking over from a colleague) and one will hopefully be working with (as we are proposing for some work with them).

One of the fringe benefits of a Kent-based day was being home from work at a decent time, and so this evening has included a quick game of basketball, and assisting with the letter to the council to get the stupid planning condition removed.

Off to bed now to continue with the latest (Booker shortlisted) Joshua Ferris. Just like the other book of his that I've read in style - takes you on quite an inner journey with the main character.

Change of heart

Beverley Craven has a new album out. Only listened to one track so far, which sounded fairly similar to the stuff on Close to Home, but it's on Spotify, so I'll have a listen to the rest of it and see what I think ...

Mind you, just looking on her website, and I see that her online shop does now include a song listing for her piano songbook, and (importantly for me) it does include my very favourite from her previous album "Everlasting Love". Very tempted!

New toy

Look who's got a new toy:

Zoopla

Here's something interesting - Zoopla still have some of the pictures from the listings when we bought our house. Makes for an entertaining review - some things have stayed the same, and some things have changed a fair bit already!

Also, and who knows how they make these guesstimates, Zoopla reckon that our house has increased in value by 24.61% since we bought it (or a compound annual increase of 12.575% as at today's date).

And, no-one's told Zoopla that someone's built a lodge in the garden!

Gardner

Lovely article on the BBC website today about Martin Gardner, recognising the fact that it is the 100th anniversary of his birth this week. It is a bit of a disgrace that when I look at my own shelves, I think that I only have one book of his - must do something about that soon.

Of particular interest in the BBC article is the cover of Scientific American from January 1977. Reminds me that I have a very long overdue post to do on exactly that topic!

Lynda

Now that iplayer has extended its run to let us listen for 30 days, this interview is well worth a listen.

Lovely lady.

So sad.

Reservations update

Quick reservations update:

• Us - 87 of 448 (note - will cancel before getting to the top as have actually bought this one, but interesting to see how long the list gets and how long it takes to get to the top!)
• Gray Mountain - 71 of 171
• Going off Alarming - 13 of 47
• The narrow road to the deep north - 75 of 206 (got in there before too much of the post Booker rush!)
• Happiness by Design - 17 of 18
• The Happiness Project - 2 of 3
• Fathomless Riches - 20 of 20 (read the review in today's paper and sounds good - Richard Coles is a pretty unique vicar after all!)

Magic Eye

Notes to self:

Setting up the Sky magic eye is actually reasonably straightforward.

• it is available directly from Sky here, although I actually managed to get it for the same price from PC World.
• slightly annoyingly the newest Sky+ HD boxes don't actually have an RF Out port, and so it is necessary to get an IO link adapter to plug in to the IO socket on the new boxes which convert to an RF output. Best place to get these does appear to be directly from Sky - 10 pounds, and available here.
• ignore all of the nonsense in the instructions about having to strip coaxial cables and use the supplied cable caps - that's only if running cables a long way in between rooms - definitely got some more coaxial cables knocking about in boxes of assorted cables.
• if struggling, 'tvtradedave' has some helpful videos, such as this one, on Youtube.
• key thing is to make sure that 'RF Outlet Power Supply' is turned on in the settings on the Sky box. To get to this, need to go into the installer menus on the box - press services, then select system setup, then press 0, 1, select to get there, then go to RF Outlets.
• check the channel number for the RF output (because once the coaxial is plugged via the magic eye connector to the aerial input on the TV, that will be the channel number to tune the TV to).
• however, important point to note - it seems like the Magic Eye can just be used as a way of getting the remote signal in to the Sky box, irrespective of whether the picture is coming in to the TV from the AV input (scart in the current setup) or coaxial aerial via Magic Eye. Very useful to know should the TV get changed to an HD one - can keep the Magic Eye setup (and the possibility of hiding the Sky box and all of the wires out of sight) without losing HD quality.

Hyde Park and Greenwich

Photos from our trip to Hyde Park today to support our runners in the Royal Parks half marathon (no pictures of the donkey included here to spare his blushes), as well as some of our stop off on the way back for a stroll around Greenwich.

Suit and shed

Two pieces of news from today:

- the shed base has been dug out and cemented (see pictures below - although only took in progress photos, will have to capture a completed picture tomorrow).

- been to the outlet in Ashford and Jake is now the proud owner of a new suit, along with smart shirts and ties, ready for his work experience week coming up soon.

Election

Here's a thought with which to end the week, and I've not seen or heard any news programmes today other than catching the headlines, which is probably a good thing, as I imagine they have all been pretty depressing.

But, what kind of state of affairs do we find ourselves in when we end up electing a UKIP member of parliament? And, does this say more about terrible choices being made by the voters, or should we pointing the finger at the main political parties?

And whilst we are on the subject, another quick question: don't you just know that both Labour and the Conservatives will be rushing to explain to the electorate how they will be reassessing their stance on immigration and other key policies in light of the important message that the people of Clacton have delivered on behalf of the people of Britain (or other similar political mumbo jumbo that idiot politicians like to come up with at times like this). Well my question is this - whilst it may be fine for policies to gradually evolve over time, surely a political party should stand for a set of values (which therefore determine their key policies). If so, then losing a vote doesn't mean that the first thing that every party does is to decide how to amend / re-style their policies to make them more like the people who won, otherwise doesn't this rather undermine the whole system? Or am I missing the point?

Knightsbridge

Quick meeting in Knightsbridge at the end of the afternoon, so popped in to Harrods. Picked up some drinking chocolate and a bar of white chocolate for Jake - helps to keep spirits up when not feeling the ticket.

Top ten

Kate asked an interesting question on Facebook this evening - name ten books that have really influenced you. Admittedly it turned a little bit into listing ten favourite books or series of books, but here is what I contributed:

1. All Adrian Mole books. Spent most of my life being excited by the release of a new one in the Mole series, and am desperately sad to think that there won't be any more. 

2. All Inspector Morse books. Have gradually been re-reading them in order recently, although the truth is that whilst I have a 1st edition of "The Remorseful Day" I've never been able to bring myself to read it and will have to face up to it soon! 

3. Danny The Champion of the World - you can keep your chocolate factories, this is my favourite Roald Dahl by a mile. 

4. Casino Royale - always loved Fleming, and was reflecting the other day when I caught a snippet of an old Bond movie, that whilst some of the films have aged terribly, the books are just timeless. 

5. An Innocent Man by John Grisham - Grisham writes great legal thrillers, but the point with this one is that it is a true story, written in the typical Grisham style, about a truly awful miscarriage of justice. 

6. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. What can I say - Douglas Adams was a strange creative genius! 

7. The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams - wouldn't be a fair reflection of my reading if there wasn't some mention of epic fantasy in the list - and I remember getting well and truly lost in this one. 

8. Quiet by Susan Cain - recent-ish book that was fantastic comfort to the introverts amongst us. 

9. The Railway Man by Eric Lomax - remarkable tale of forgiveness despite the brutality of WWII. 

10. And finally, One Day by David Nicholls. May be a cliche, but I thought it was fantastic. Really looking forward to reading his new book "Us". Read One Day when I was staying away from home, and remember having to phone home to talk to someone in the middle of the night when I'd just finished the book and was feeling a little emotional !!

Play

Home from work this evening, catching up on some work in the study, and Jake popped his head around the door to ask if he could play me something on the piano - a question to which there is only ever one answer, and so we wandered downstairs together. He opened one of my songbooks at 'Separate Lives' and proceeded to play it beautifully to me, having only looked at it for the first time today.

Proud Dad.

Productive

After yesterday's rain, a productive day outside today. We now have a grey garage door, garden clearance is coming along well, and all finished off with a big old bonfire.

Choc tour

Chocolate tour completed, and by all accounts, a good time was had. A selection has been brought home for us to try from each establishment visited, and we are under instruction to savour them. Apparently, they were rather expensive!

(PS - Mum, good to see I manage to be occasionally thought-provoking. As you say, we should definitely discuss!)

Book update

For fear of this becoming a book-based blog, a few updates:

• Just finished 'A Year in Provence', which I thoroughly enjoyed, and only about a quarter of a century after everyone else read it! (Thanks to it being one of the Times+ special offer books on the list of Sunday Times bestsellers over the years). Next time we visit the Cote d'Azur, maybe we should make some time to venture inland a little way.
• Exited to hear that there will be another new Bond book next year, and that this time it will be by Anthony Horowitz - more info in the Guardian article here. I enjoyed his efforts at bringing us a new Sherlock story, so fingers crossed for another good effort.
• Just started the new Ian McEwan (read Chesil Beach a couple of weeks ago) which I picked up from the library this week. A quote to share from one of the first few pages of the book. Talking about 'welfare' in the context of a judgement she is writing, the central character who is a judge in a family court, is referring to what makes for a good life: "Economic and moral freedom, virtue, compassion and altruism, satisfying work through engagement with demanding tasks, a flourishing network of personal relationships, earning the esteem of others, pursuing larger meanings to one's existence, and having at the centre of one's life one or a small number of significant relations defined above all by love." Isn't that just a fantastic summation of what it's all about. (Also reminds me of some of the themes in Tim Jackson's book which I found particularly interesting, and which I will eventually get around to writing about.)

Cats

Cats

To vets

Routine

All fine

But a bit chubby

Especially Jessie

Diet time

Publication

One of the good things about this time of year (to compensate us for colder weather and darker evenings) is that the publishers start getting busy with book releases as we move into the pre Christmas book season, and provided you steer clear of the usual 'celebrity' drivel (mostly people from shows with Essex, Geordie or Chelsea in the title) there are some great books appearing on the shelves, with lots more still to come.

Key questions of the moment are: (i) can I be patient and wait for my turn for the books that I have on order from the library, especially now that I have read the review of "Us" in the Sunday Times from the weekend which makes it sound fantastic, and I am 150+ on the waiting list?, and (ii) with this in mind, can I resist cashing in the five pounds off when you spend fifteen or more on books voucher at WHS when they are doing two hardbacks for 22?

Message for Mum

Hello Mum - I do like our occasional conversation by blog!

I'm sure that Neil Gaiman understands Terry Pratchett far better than you or me, given that he actually knows him, but I know what you mean. Terry does come across well in interviews, and whenever I hear him speak I am reminded that there is a huge body of work of his that I must get stuck into one day, having managed not to read a single book of his thus far (Dave has always been a big fan).

Mind you, should I ever have the terrible misfortune of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I would imagine that I would go through a stage (possibly temporary, possibly longer!) of being spectacularly pissed off and angry about the situation!

As to the latest Book People catalogue, yes, definitely some good bargains as always, although some of the best bargains seem to be for things that I already have (Ian Fleming, Douglas Adams ...). Will be interested to hear what Mitch Albom is like - not actually read either!

Talk soon.

M x

Sarnie

Fringe benefit (or should that be fridge benefit) of getting in from work at 11pm = the best sausage sarnie I've had in ages waiting for me, prepared by my lovely wife before she went to bed!

Lutyens again

A quick check of the archive and it was back in March that I first went to the restaurant where I had lunch today, although that time it was a work do, and we were in a private dining room in the basement. Today we were upstairs in the main dining room, and very pleasant it was too. Quite amusing to think that C&C from all those years ago at school have done alright - we're even allowed in to eat at posh London restaurants from time to time!

Win

Great day's golf - a win for Europe by five points - 16 ½ - 11 ½. So, we even managed a narrow victory in the singles matches, and extended our overnight lead. Not that that's the most important thing - the big news is that we got more than 14 and retained, and won, the cup.

Check twitter feed for match by match summary!

Ryder

Absolutely loving the Ryder Cup so far. Glued to the TV, and tomorrow's singles are going to be fantastic. Quite how we ended up with both fourball sessions going 2 ½ - 1½ to the USA, and then Europe coming storming back on both afternoons to take the foursomes by 3 ½ - ½ each time around just defies belief. Maybe it once again goes a little bit towards the theory of the USA players not having the same team mentality as the European guys (i.e. when you have to take alternate shots with the same ball, somehow the Americans just don't cope as well?).

This morning Rose and Stenson led the way, and despite Watson and Kuchar playing some impressive golf themselves, the Europeans made something crazy like 12 birdies in 16 holes to win 3&2. But, that was the only blue on the board this morning, and our only other score was from a hard fought half from Rory and Ian ('Mr Ryder Cup') Poulter against Walker and Fowler. Poulter hadn't been living up to his nickname and looked out of sorts until he chipped in at the 15th for shot of the day, and then the familiar eyes-bulging, fist-pumping, chest-thumping Poults was back in action.

Otherwise this morning, the USA Ryder Cup rookie pairing of Reed and Spieth confirmed what everybody had suspected yesterday that Captain Tom had made a bit of a tactical blunder by leaving them out of the second session, as they chalked up another big victory.

So, the European lead had been narrowed to just one point going into the afternoon, and the quality of golf did dip a little on both sides, partly an inevitability of the move from four balls to two, and partly a reflection of a few players showing signs of some battle fatigue, especially those who were out for their fourth session (note - interesting that Mickelson - probably the senior and most decorated player on the USA team was left out of both sessions today!) . But it was the European team who held it together, and all of the partnerships performed:

- GMac looked in control, although to be honest I think he was probably playing second fiddle to the Frenchman Dubuisson who was playing some fantastic golf, especially his approach play. The European pair were 4 or 5 up by the turn and that match was only ever going one way.

- Another pairing of experience with a newcomer and Westwood and Donaldson brought home another point. Again Donaldson looked pretty relaxed out there and appeared to be loving the Ryder Cup experience, but then, two pairings with Westie and two points won, and you would, wouldn't you?!

- Garcia and McIlroy - what a pairing! After scrambling to bring in a half yesterday afternoon our boys looked strong today, and were worthy winners. Sergio was honest in saying that he was probably the junior partner out there, but then again, just having that bundle of positive energy bouncing along next to you must surely count for a few shots.

- And finally Rose and Kaymer - Justin didn't have anything like as strong an afternoon compared to the morning fourballs, but then again, as they said in commentary, the morning round was pretty close to perfection. Martin missed a few putts this afternoon, but the guys stuck to their task, kept it going, and in the end deserved the chance on the 18th green for Rose to sink a 6 foot putt to halve the match, which he did.

And so we go into Sunday at 10 - 6. The same score as last time around, but the other way around. The key question being, can the USA team produce a 'miracle' of their own?

The pundits all seem to be saying no, and whilst I hope they are right, I think it would be foolish to make too many assumptions too soon. They USA team may be down, but they aren't out just yet, and there's plenty of golf still to be played tomorrow.

Just taken a look at the lineup for the singles, and some interesting stuff in there. Firstly, Tom really has decided to have faith in his rookies by putting Spieth and Reed up in matches 1 and 2. Otherwise Garcia against Furyk will be interesting - the passionate Spaniard against the wily American; I'm sure Gallacher is relishing the chance to have a go at Mickelson in match 5; and no doubt Poulter, fired up by his strong finish this afternoon, will have been interested to see his draw against Webb Simpson in match 9 - we haven't seen Simpson out on the course since Friday morning when he was on the wrong end of a 5&4 against the Rose/Stenson partnership.

However, I expect that the largest crowd will be reserved for match number three, and that the red or blue colouring on that part of the leaderboard could well set the tone for the day. McIlroy against Fowler - what a game!

Looking forward to it ...

Photopass

Nicky ordered one of our Photopass pictures from our summer trip, and it arrived in the post this week (as well as me getting the digital copies of the ride photos from our last day - which if I haven't posted here already, and I don't think I have, I really should post sometime soon).

A particularly fine choice I think:

Wells

A little collection of random thoughts from a busy day:

1. "More Fool Me" out today, so I dashed off to the shops at lunchtime to pick up a copy. Challenge now is to be good and at least finish the book I am on at the moment before diving in!

2. Following a link on a tweet this evening took me to this article from yesterday's Guardian (Mum and Dad will be pleased!). Excellent piece, and makes me want to get properly stuck into his writing, although that could take a while!

3. Driving home from work, far too late (again), I noticed a van on the motorway with the number plate FWE 11S, and it was arranged with the gap between the first and the second letters. I strongly suspect that the owner is entirely unaware that they have the perfect plate to commemorate on of the most significant people in the history of the Walt Disney Company - in fact someone so important that they get to have a window on Main Street.

Mavericks?

Made the mistake this evening of starting to look at the possibilities when it comes to updating the operating system on my macbook.

Turns out that the latest is called Mavericks, soon to be replaced by Yosemite (looks like they might have run out of big cats?). Not entirely sure yet what it does that my Lion isn't doing, other than take up space no doubt, which is fairly precious these days on my 64GB solid state, but may have to continue investigation at later date.

Picture here

To clarify previous 'cryptic' messages referring to MWF II, our new Doug Hyde picture is now safely in the house - not yet on a wall, but here, and isn't it great !!

Quiet

Just over a year ago, I read a great book, called "Quiet", by Susan Cain, all about 'the power of introverts'.

In another of the occasional examples that my employer seems to be popping up with recently of showing some encouraging signs in their approach to training and people development (see also this post, as well as a post or two that I will eventually get around to writing as follow up to that meeting and subsequent reading), I was sent a link the other day to a talk by Susan Cain.

It is 20 mins, but it is well worth a watch. I enjoyed it greatly - but then again, I would, wouldn't I, introvert that I am!

Saturday

A Saturday with much to report:

- we've all been to a work do - and very nice it was too - Jake enjoyed playing cricket, including a caught and bowled success against my boss!

- stopped in at Bluewater on the way home and picked up MWF II - no doubt pictures to follow.

- by the time we got home the fence between main and lodge gardens had been removed and new gate and fence sections had been installed - looking excellent, and pets enjoying new freedoms.

Community

A new path

Wheelbarrows

A music lesson

Campfire cuppa

A camping story

Tears

Olivia's glade

Steam trains.

In amongst that lot there's a story somewhere - ask me to tell it to you sometime.

Yes or No

The referendum coverage seems to think that it could be quite some time until the first results start to trickle in, so I think I'll toddle off to bed. Maybe I'll flick back over to see how things are going in a few hours, but chances are I'll be safely away into the land of nod by then.

I just hope that I wake up in the same UK that I'll be going to sleep in.

Don't leave us Scotland - we'd miss you.

Just say "NO"!

Race the tube

This is fun!

Rhyme

Latest news from Lincoln, and a quick round up from the Skin Collector (note - spoiler alert! - don't read on if you ever plan on reading the novel!):

- Lon is left in hospital at the end, having been poisoned, but the smart money says he will have pulled through by the next instalment.

- Rookie is no good at undercover work, but in fairness it did turn out that he was up against the Watchmaker himself, rather than a lawyer appointed to collect his remains.

- The Watchmaker interludes turned out to be more important than they first appeared, firstly as we discovered that he'd faked his death to escape from prison, and secondly when we discover that he had masterminded the whole plan.

- Looks highly likely that the Watchmaker will be appearing again in the next book. (Note the long phone conversation between Rhyme and Logan in one of the last chapters. "Nemesis" comes up. Not sure how happy I am with this - would prefer Deaver to bring new ideas and new adversaries to the fray in each novel. In danger of getting a bit Kyle Craig-ish (i.e. Patterson at his most lazy!))

- Seth was Billy and Billy was Seth! Felt like something like that might be coming along. Seth's character was only introduced at the start of the book and was feeling fairly expendable from the outset, but nice twist with him being Billy, and the centipede being washable!

- Similarly nice twist with Pam being Lovely Girl, although as always, the clue was there, and in big bold letters with the "LIAM" and "ELA" tattoos and the reference to couples sharing inkings between each other (with Billy tattooing "WIL" and "PAM" onto Pam in a final struggle near the end).

- Sachs' relationship with Pam went through a tough time, with Sachs doing a good job of not jumping up and down and shouting "told you so" at the end.

- And Lincoln himself seemed to be on pretty good form - quite upbeat in comparison to the dark moods he's been through in previous novels, and he even occasionally admitted acting based on hunches and feelings, rather than operating entirely based on cold logic. Progress indeed.

And that's not to mention the dastardly plot to kill / maim / blow up / poison etc the inhabitants of New York!

Car wait

As expected, looks like the mean people at the car leasing firm are going to make me wait until the full three years are up on my Lexus contract (i.e. mid Jan 15) before they'll let me swap into my new car, even though the lead time is only about 6-8 weeks and the order is in already.

MWF II

Monday can be a sad day, a bit of a blue day with an unhappy face.

Wednesday is getting better, a green day, no longer sad, but not happy just yet.

Friday is a bright day, a red day with a great big smile.

As will be revealed very soon!

Birthday

To anyone who has been enjoying a milestone birthday today, a very Happy Birthday to you !!

Osteo

Osteo day today.

Back feeling good.

Still booked another session for next month.

Want it to stay that way.

Waiting list

Popped in to Crawley library yesterday to ask them about how I can get on the waiting list for books that they haven't got yet / haven't been published yet, and it turns out to be pretty straightforward - just look on the catalogue and if they have confirmed it as coming in the future, it can be reserved like any other.

So, I have reserved the new Ian McEwan (The Children Act) from Crawley, and despite the pricier Sussex reservation cost, I think this is one area in which Kent trumps Sussex, as I don't think I can actually see where I am in the queue on the Sussex website, which is a bit of a shame.

Having learned how to do it, and given that we are approaching the time of year when lots of interesting books get published, I have reserved three books from the Kent library system, and here I can track my place in the queue, which is as follows at the moment (none of the following books have been published yet):

- David Nicholls - Us - 153 out of 158
- John Grisham - Gray Mountain - 72 out of 74
- Danny Baker - Going off Alarming - 26 out of 26.

HUB5

Home Hub 5 has arrived and been plugged in.

No better than Hub 3.

So much for 2-3 times the range.

Ho hum!

More hoops

Success - basketball hoop constructed. It's huge, but very good. We've all scored a few baskets - some more than others.


Otherwise, a Sunday of lawn-mowing, roast beef-eating, and other weekend stuff!

Hoop

Building basketball hoop turns out to be a 2 day job.

To be resumed tomorrow.

Sent from my iPad

Week - end

And so we get to the end of the first week of term. Jake and I have been to KFC for tea, Nanny and Granddad have spent their first few couple of nights in their new home, and Nicky is putting the world to rights with a couple of old friends with a few glasses of wine and a chinese takeaway.

All good!

Rivers

A couple of days without blogging, so will be needing to sneak in a couple of bonus blogs somewhere along the way during the rest of this month to keep things moving along. Tuesday's excuse was a late night of Ikea furniture building (not that I did very much compared to others) and yesterday's was an even later night spent at a work wine tasting evening in London. Thankfully I managed to do a reasonable job of sipping my way through the eight different wines that we were tasting during the course of the evening (unlike some) and therefore managed to stay reasonably with it, although today has also seemed like a fairly long day!

Sad news about Joan Rivers today, and whilst this is most definitely not a blog to make a point of commenting on the passing of every celebrity (I seem to have a brother in law who takes a morbid delight in doing that on an annual basis), even if I did rather go on about Robin Williams a few weeks ago, I saw something on twitter from 'Letters of Note' written by Joan Rivers, and as the introduction said, clearly she was hoping for a more interesting death:

When my time comes, I'm going to go out in high style. I have no intention of being sick or lingering on or dragging on and on and boring everyone I know. I have no intention of coughing and wheezing for months on end. One morning you'll wake up and read a headline: Joan Rivers found dead ... on George Clooney's face. Clooney was so bereft, all he could say was, "Xjfhfyrnem."

Shame she didn't quite get her wish!

Registration

September is upon us, and I haven't spotted a '64' just yet.

To make sure that I see one sooner or later, I've ordered a new car today!

Ice bucket

Premier

If today's games are anything to go by, we are in for a fun Premier League this season - Chelsea and Everton come up with nine goals between them (with Chelsea scoring twice as many as Everton), Palace get their season started with a 3-3 draw with Newcastle; Burnley hold Man U to a goalless draw, meaning that Man U are still looking for their first win and have only two points after three games; and Stoke travel to the blue side of Manchester and take all of the points home with them.

Let's see whether Spurs and Liverpool can keep it interesting tomorrow.

London trips

A few observations from the last couple of days of heading in to London for training:

• A good week to be travelling in to London - I suspect that lots of people have taken the last week of August off, enjoying the tail end of the school holidays, plus the bonus of the Bank Holiday Monday. Places were still busy, but far more manageable than usual.
• The Metropolitan Line definitely has the best carriages on the Underground. It'd be great if all of the lines could have stock as good as that.
• If the hoardings are to be believed, Farringdon will be pretty nice when it is finally finished (and hopefully that's not too far away based on Bec's watching of documentaries in the middle of the night).
• London continues to be a fantastic place for people watching as you walk from station to work. Some embrace dress down Friday, but some definitely don't - a few particularly dapper Dans were strutting their stuff this morning, one with three piece suit, gold chain and matching tie pin.
• Beards continue to definitely be 'in', and many were taking the opportunity in the morning sunshine to show of their designer shades, although I remain to be convinced by the suit and sunglasses look.
• I need a belt for my suit trousers.
• On course catering hadn't improved from yesterday to today, and there remained a distinct lack of biscuits. However, one of my colleagues had done a splendid thing and anticipated this, and brought a pack of chocolate cookies from home.
• One of the main benefits of work days in London is being able to read on the train (even if on balance I still prefer my normal commute by car), and I was pleased to see Sandi Toksvig reference my favourite A A Milne quote in her book. In case you're wondering what it is, you can find it in a previous post of mine here.

Station stores

Walking through St Pancras over the last couple of days I have been surprised to notice a couple of book store changes.


First of all, right at the end nearest to the Euston Road exit a Hatchards bookshop has appeared, which was a particular surprise, as I thought that the Hatchards name had been in retreat since the acquisition by Waterstones some years ago. However, a quick look at their website reveals that the St Pancras outlet is their only other store apart from the flagship on Piccadilly.

Mind you, it's a good job that they have arrived on the station concourse, because the other piece of news is that Foyles have disappeared. A little bit of research on that one seems to suggest that they were unable to agree on the terms of the lease renewal which was due at the end of July, and so out they went.

Foyles was a good store, and a quick browse in there would often provide some inspiration and ideas on books to read - it'll be interesting to see if Hatchards can live up to the same standard.

The St Pancras landlords haven't been slow in attracting a new tenant for the vacant space, and some time soon, John Lewis will be opening their first ever station store - will be interesting to see exactly what parts of their vast range they are planning on selling from the station?

Library update

Today I have finished the third of my first batch of books borrowed from the library. As I mentioned in this post I borrowed three for reading and three of sheet music from Crawley a little while ago.

Each of them has been interesting and deserves their own blog, which I will get around to writing soon!

Today, I also popped into Maidstone library to pick up the three books that I had on reserve, all of which had now arrived for me to collect.

Loving this library system so far!

New low

Well, if we were looking for an official moment to declare it the end of an era, I think that today can most definitely be that day.

MK Dons 4 - Man Utd 0

It doesn't get much worse than that!

Bank Holiday

Well how very traditional - an August Bank Holiday Monday and it rained all day!

London

Sunday day trip to London - parked at the O2 (for the bargain price of £6 all day on a Sunday) and hopped on the Jubilee Line). Would have got off at London Bridge, but the station was temporarily closed due to an incident of some sort. Still, it worked out in our favour as we got off at the next stop (Southwark) and had a pleasant stroll along the South Bank, and ended up stopping for lunch at Porky's BBQ, just down the side of the Globe Theatre.


After lunch we carried on along eastbound, through More London, passing under Tower Bridge, and to the Design Museum, where we enjoyed assessing the entries for this year's Design Awards. A couple of my favourites were the polystyrene and bamboo Toyota, as well as the Bradley Timepiece (designed to be a wristwatch that can be worn easily by blind people), Jake particularly liked a rather funky new keyboard, and whilst it wasn't one of the entries for the award, I think Nicky wanted to bring home a new clock.


One of our observations on the museum was that whilst it was excellent, it could really do with some more space, and it turns out that they are on the case - they will be moving to a new, purpose built home in South Kensington in 2016, so we can look forward to another visit then.

After leaving the museum, we walked across Tower Bridge, and passing the Tower we marvelled at the poppy gardens that are under construction (note to self - apparently there has been a rush on ordering the first batch of poppies but I think some more are being made - must investigate how to get one / some), and then headed to Bank to get on the Central Line.


Destination Tottenham Court Road tube (and not just so that we could all be reminded just how much of a dump Centerpoint really is - are they pulling it down - let's hope so!) so that we could pop down to Denmark Street and to a couple of music shops where Jake got a couple of new books, and then we took a stroll from there to Carnaby Street.

Now as anyone who knows London will know, the walk from Denmark Street to Carnaby Street passes through a rather interesting area of town. We had an amusing wander, but didn't go in anywhere!! I especially wanted to into one particular establishment, just so that I could say that I had had a "Snog in Soho", but sadly we moved quickly along. For the avoidance of doubt, Snog sells frozen yoghurt!!

We enjoyed a wander along Carnaby, but didn't get anything other than a big box of Ben's Cookies to bring home, and so headed for Oxford Circus (Bakerloo to Waterloo and then Jubilee to North Greenwich) and back home.

Galvin

Been for a very nice meal out this evening at Galvin la Chapelle, which is on Spital Square, just off Bishopsgate. It was the latest is our series of dinners with Chris and Carolyn (as recommended by Chris this time - quite close to his work, and I think tipped off by a colleague), and I think wins the prize of being the best so far.

Food was lovely, I think Nicky particularly enjoyed the champagne and the espresso martini, and I think Carolyn particularly enjoyed the young Italian waiter!

Complete

Only really need one one for today to summarise the most important event:

Completion.

Jack

In one of his perhaps slightly less well known films, "Jack", Robin Williams played a boy (called Jack) who suffered with a medical condition which caused him to age at four times the rate of 'normal' people.

For the majority of the film, we follow Jack when he is ten years old (played by Williams, as he has aged as if he is 40 years old), and in particular his trials and tribulations as he attends school for the first time (having been home schooled up to that point - his tutor being played by Bill Cosby). As with so many of Robin Williams' films, there are lots of laughs along the way.

Then, at the end of the film we fast forward eight years to Jack's graduation from school, and he is chosen to deliver the valedictorian speech. By this point in his life he is inhabiting the body of a 72 year-old man.

When the film came out almost twenty years ago, the speech seemed to be pretty good, and was a nice way to round out the film and draw the story to a close.

"I don't have very much time these days so I'll make it quick. Like my life. You know, as we come to the end of this phase of our life, we find ourselves trying to remember the good times and trying to forget the bad times, and we find ourselves thinking about the future. We start to worry, thinking, "What am I gonna do? Where am I gonna be in ten years?" But I say to you, "Hey, look at me!"

So far, so good. Pretty appropriate for a graduation speech, and rather touching in the film. But then, here comes the kicker. Knowing what we know now, and the immense loss of a life the ended too soon, and yet a life that touched millions - knowing that, even if he was in character, Robin spoke the following words - it simply knocks the breath clean out of you.

Please don't worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when the stars are strung across the velvety night. And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day ... make a wish and think of me. Make your life spectacular. I know I did."

And all I can think are these three things:

- Yes, Robin, you sure did!
- Don't we all owe it to each other to try to be a little bit spectacular in the best way we can.
- Wouldn't it have been lovely if he could have stuck around a little bit longer.

James Foley

What a truly awful, terrible and sad piece of news.

Libraries

Since getting back from holiday, I have joined two libraries.

Well, I suppose that's not strictly accurate. What I should really say is that I have joined two counties' worth of libraries, as by joining one you are automatically joined to all of the libraries in that county, and so I am now a member of the libraries of both Kent and West Sussex.

And jolly marvellous it is too.

I finally went into the new library in Maidstone, not far from the old Springfield site, and joined that a couple of Saturdays ago. I didn't immediately borrow anything, but put a couple of books on reserve (for the princely sum of 35p per book - payable on collection), and have since been emailed to say that one of them has come in and that I can go in and pick it up any time in the next couple of weeks.

It's all very high tech now - I can search through the entire catalogue on line across the whole county, and can request books be moved from one branch to another, can borrow from anywhere I like, as well as returning books to another branch. Impressive stuff.

Marginally complicated by Medway insisting on being a different council to Kent (although frankly libraries are the least of our problems in that regard when the bloody boundary between the two runs right through your garden !!) but I am automatically a member of Medway libraries as well as Kent - it'll just be interesting to see whether I can return books borrowed from Maidstone to our Walderslade library?

Anyway, I've reserved a third book at Maidstone in the last couple of days and am waiting for notification of its arrival. The catalogue was showing that it was available (I think in Maidstone and certainly in one or two other branches) so I am hoping it won't be a long wait. Will prove to be an interesting test of the system.

A few days after joining in Maidstone I went into the library in Crawley and joined there as well, and have already borrowed six from them! Three were for reading purposes, and three were from their good selection of music books, and Jake and I have been enjoying working our way through some of the songs in them on our lovely new piano. I think I could be testing on the on-line renewal facility for those ones when the initial lending period comes to an end.

(Interesting to see that reserving books costs 60p in Sussex compared to the 35p in Kent - wonder if it says something about the relative state of the economy in the two counties?)

All of these books borrowed from the library will prove to be an interesting test of me as well. As many people know only too well, I have become rather fond of the combination of both book reading and book ownership, and the challenge that I am setting for myself is to see if I can divorce the one from the other, and to continue to enjoy just as much the pleasures of book reading, without feeling quite as much need for book ownership!

Perhaps I will actually end up feeling a new pleasure in library membership, borrowing and returning my chosen books!

We'll see!

Gift from the sea

One of the new things that we did whilst on holiday in Florida was stay a few days on the coast, away from the fast-paced, action-packed, dashing here and there, four-parks-in-a-day, kind of a life that we can sometimes lead in Orlando. And very nice it was too. Mind you, as Florida coastal holiday novices, we weren't going to veer to far away from what we knew, and so we stuck with the Disney familiar, and stayed at their DVC property at Vero Beach.

It took us a little while to adjust, which in some ways was a shame, as we only had a few days there before heading back to Orlando, and truth be told, I'm not sure if they boys entirely got it. Perhaps they would have preferred to stay closer to the action for the entire fortnight. Anyway, on the afternoon of our second day, Nicky and I went off in search of what we thought Vero Beach should be - a genteel, and quietly upmarket coastal resort, confident of its place in Florida society.

It was hard to find, but eventually we found something that looked like it pretty much fitted the bill. However, it turned out that it closed at 5pm, and we'd arrived just after. Thankfully there were one or two places still open, and it will certainly be somewhere to go back to next time.

In particular, we went into a store called "Exclusively Coastal", where Nicky bought some smellies, and after a rummage around, I came out with a book (yes, I know, what a surprise!).

The book is called "Gift from the Sea" and was written during a coastal holiday in Florida, albeit a holiday on the Gulf coast rather than the Atlantic coast. It was written, in 1955, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh), and using the shells she finds by the seashore as a starting point, reflects on various aspects of life, and it is a actually a rather lovely read. Just occasionally one is aware that this is a book written almost 60 years ago, but more often than not, it seems to have something to say to us today, especially when it comes to the distractions of the busy lives that we all lead.

It's a short book, and well worth a read. If anyone fancies a borrow, just let me know.

The shortest chapter by far is the first, and, just to give you an idea of the book, here it is:

1. The Beach

The beach is not the place to work; to read, write or think. I should have remembered that from other years. Too warm, too damp, too soft for any real mental discipline or sharp flights of spirit. One never learns. Hopefully, one carries down the faded straw bag, lumpy with books, clean paper, long over-due unanswered letters, freshly sharpened pencils, lists and good intentions. The books remain unread, the pencils break their points and the pads rest smooth and unblemished as the cloudless sky. No reading, no writing, no thoughts even - at least, not at first.

At first, the tired body takes over completely. As on shipboard, one descends into a deck-chair apathy. One is forced against one's mind, against all tidy resolutions, back into the primeval rhythms of the seashore. Rollers on the beach, wind in the pines, the slow flapping of herons across sand dunes, drown out the hectic rhythms of city and suburb, time tables and schedules. One falls under their spell, relaxes, stretches out prone. One becomes, in fact, like the element on which one lies, flattened by the sea; bare, open, empty as the beach, erased by today's tides of all yesterday's scribblings.

And then, some morning in the second week, the mind wakes, comes to life again. Not in a city sense - no - but beach-wise. It begins to drift, to play, to turn over in gentle careless rolls like those lazy waves on the beach. One never knows what chance treasures these easy unconscious rollers may toss up, on the smooth white sand of the conscious mind; what perfectly rounded stone, what rare shell from the ocean floor. Perhaps a channelled whelk, a moon shell or even an argonaut.

But it must not be sought for or - heaven forbid! - dug for. No, no dredging of the sea bottom here. That would defeat one's purpose. The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.

Wallet

Bought myself a new wallet last week, and have just transferred things over to it. Can now fit everything into it, but the one thing that it is missing is space for a picture. Mind you, the picture in my old wallet was a little out of date. As a sign of how long I'd had it, this was the photo I'd had in my wallet for rather a long time!

Fantasy

The new season is upon us, and MOTD is on the telly. Normal service has perhaps already been resumed, with Spurs in 5th place (i.e. one place below the Champions League!) in the table, but hey, we have a 100% win record, and so I can't complain too much!

Yesterday, Jake registered a team on the Fantasy Football website, and I have joined it to our work league. Will be interesting to see how he gets on. He's already been contemplating his first round of substitutions!

Lodge update

It's been a while since I posted an update on lodge progress, and today seems like a pretty good day to do one, especially as the very good news about exchange on sale came through today, with hoped for completion next week.

The only major outstanding on the build is the exterior cladding, and that is hopefully going to be arriving on Monday, so it it may be declared to be just about finished in around a week's time, which will be fantastic.

As can be seen from these pictures, it really is starting to look like a home, and I think that, mentioning no names, a couple of people are starting to get rather excited!