This is a long-winded diary style catch-up written between 27 January and now (March 18) during a second term of furlough. I think that the tone will show how I have been feeling at the time of my updating the diary - normally on a train journey to London. I hope it is bearable, and not too confusing... Having been surprisingly busy at the office and being actively praised for all that the Swisspost-run Postroom at Canon has been doing to keep the company running in very awkward times, it was a galling and unexpected surprise to be told that with effect from last Monday (25 January 2021) I would be put onto furlough leaving just my supervisor to do two people’s work for the following four weeks. Avid readers may be aware that this will be my second furlough shift, my last being from April until May last year during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Initial anti-feelings (we are sure that there are other ways to save the client the £1400 a month which would not involve one person running themselves ragged), have since been replaced by resignation and a resolution that this “free“ time could be more adequately filled than Lockdown #1. Jenny and I have moved homes with Layla, we had quickly decorated 2 of the 3 bedrooms, but the rest of the house needs freshening and demands that we put “our” stamp on it. Jenny is currently on “flexi-furlough” and is at home on Monday and Tuesday of each week. Layla is in first year of secondary school, and Jenny is a key-worker (catering at a Primary School) so she goes in each day. The routine will be beneficial, and less stressful and confusing for her. Any way, over Saturday and Sunday, I took a brush to the bathroom, which did the job there - we still need to replace the inadequate storage, but that can wait. Monday we moved downstairs to the lounge, which was an altogether big and more exacting job. Shelves came down, rawl plug holes and picture hook removal scars filled. Plain woodwork needed white gloss paint and the walls emulsion. Storage was moved off the floor too. Where do we want the TV to go ? On a wall bracket. We rediscovered “forgotten” power sockets which to be frank, would be useful in other positions in the room. In times gone by, I would have moved the sockets myself, but that is not such a good idea in these more safety conscious times when appliances need to be connected installed by a CORGI registered electrician / gas man. I ran a couple 2/3 gang extensions behind the corner sofa to where the outlets can be accessed, and fixed them in place to give the impression of wall sockets. Light fittings need replacing - what style ? No idea, none we have seen are “right” for the lounge. Maybe just a plain pendant, with a nice shade for now. I also replaced faulty / no good light fittings around the place. Two new security lights for the garden and a better light in the downstairs toilet/shower. For the record, I much prefer the crisp bright light given by a old school tungsten / halogen tube for garden security - the LED greener options which are more readily available really doesn’t have the same “What the hell is that ! ???” shock factor. Another gripe is some “One Coat” Gloss Paint we were given. It really is laughable, in that AT LEAST two are needed to change plain woodwork to white. That might be fine, but it takes at full 16 hours before a re-coat can be applied rather than the 6 hours between coats on other varieties which are more convenient and water cleanable. We moved on to the Dining Room, which should have been easy but was quite an effort due to the very high sloping ceiling. Jenny and I thought about the loft space, which is split 50/50 storage and accommodation. The plan is to use the “cosy” end as a chill out or quiet space. Both sides were full of boxes (a legacy of two houses combining to one). There was stuff to keep, stuff to sort and dump, stuff we might need in the mid term. The solution hopefully is some shelf storage units. These arrived and did a pretty tidy job, to be fair. Space is tighter than we would like, but we are getting there. Another job that Jenny and I undertook was to sort, consolidate and digitise the thousands of 35mm photographic slides that my Dad as well as her family took many years ago. This is onerous, but has needed doing for at least 20 years in my case. Just whether to use professional services to digitise the images is in debate at the moment. We have achieve quite acceptable results using a handheld viewer and mobile phone ! More bit-biting and with Jenny managing to sort the accommodation side of the loft, it was straight on to the conversion from junk store to chill / viewing / entertainment space. We quite fancied cinema/theatre opulence, so dark blue paints were chosen. Jenny found some LED strip mood lighting, so this was fixed and plugged in. TV and sound bar set up, DVD player and PlayStation 4 connected. Chairs and footstools (IKEA Poing) and a couple of IKEA Billy short shelf units completed the transformation. Even if I do say so myself, it is very cosy and I like it a lot. In the meantime, my Mum was behaving badly - or at least her dementia made her behave badly. She refused care / medication / meals and became very agitated so we had to get the GP to investigate. The blood test revealed slightly borderline thyroid levels which may have been due to medication refusal. Apart from that there was little of concern. There is a hair issue (matted and tangled hair which needs attention when things return to normal). The GP suggested another test in a month to see if that reveals more. On the up-side, Mum had her first COVID-19 vaccination during the first week in February. I had a long overdue appointment at the dentist (one year since my last check up) - a second visit to tidy up and clean a few things was necessary on 15 February. Out of the blue, I received an invitation to have a COVID-19 vaccination, which I wasn’t expecting until the end of April. I booked an appointment for February 28, and the first jab was done. I did feel a little out of sorts that afternoon, but otherwise had no ill-effects.
Last week (I am typing this on Friday 12 March) thinking that my time on furlough might be ending, I quickly freshened up the downstairs toilet/shower on Monday. So that is most of the inside made over until the kitchen is redone in April. The hallway will wait until after that. Just the shed and Summer House to go now Jenny is back at work (normal hours) and Layla’s school is now open for business too. Conversations with my manager have not brought good news on my return date to the office. I suspect that the earliest I can hope for will be 29 March when the first stage of the government’s lockdown easing materialises. That is about it for now. Lego construction will fill some time until I go back, whenever that may be. Until next time, Dear Reader. Take Care and Be Kind. [Update 22 March] I have received the phone call from my manager, and as suspected I have been asked to return to the work next Monday, 29 March. I need it too !!!
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2020 - an enigma. A very strange year to put behind us ? A year with huge highlights to make it special. 2020 started normally enough, and that was that. The first couple of months were fine and dandy. Then came March ... The COVID-19 Lockdown was surreal, restrictions annoying but bearable and understandable. Oddly, as we made a very early decision that I should move in with Jenny and Layla for the duration, we found generally okay - frustrating as we were unable to do what we normally would as freely as we had in past, but okay. As I seemed to be the designated shopper and having to pop back to Merstham to feed the cat every couple of days, I felt as though I had the best of it. I was able to see somewhere a little different a few times a week, as well as the exercise walks in the woods and scooter rides locally as a family. <more here> My workplace at Woodhatch was closing, but I had managed to find a new job at a Swisspost run site in Guildford. My job changed, and I went straight to "Furlough" on April 1. As many people before me, I felt short changed as I just sort of left the office and didn’t go back the next day. It was a strange time in an empty office. The “ new normal “ horizon became unclear and uncertain - personally I felt that any upturn after the lockdown might take a couple of years. Come the middle of May, I had a call from my new manager to say that the client in Guildford had reviewed their requirements and didn’t need me any more. I got in touch with my manager at Canon and asked if the job roles at the new Canon site near Heathrow had been filled or if there were any openings I could fill. There were, and I rejoined the Canon fold on June 1, working with my old supervisor as a double act once again. This has carried on since. All change on the personal front too - Jenny and I married on August 1 at a COVID restricted ceremony - a room which would previously have taken 40 or so, down to just 6 guests. It was a great day. <more here> Next was a short break in Staffordshire <more here> and a week in Yorkshire <more here> In November - after a frustrating year trying, preparing and waiting, we finally moved into our new house in Reigate. This was a long and drawn out process - I first had the estate agent calling at my house of 15 years in Merstham in November 2018 to see what would be needed to make the house saleable. We had a few offers, mainly unrealistic. People came to look, but none seemed particularly interested. When an realistic offer came in on the house in Merstham, the buyer’s finance fell through which snookered any possibility of our completing on a house in Reigate that we had made an offer on. In late January / early February another firm offer was made. We found another nicer house in Reigate and had our offer accepted. Then of course, the lockdown stopped the property market completely until June or July. After a couple of financial wrangles, (eased somewhat by the Chancellor's announcement to temporarily change the rules on Stamp Duty thresholds) and then a seemingly endless time trying to agree and confirm Contract Exchange and Completion dates with the top end of the 4 house chain, we finally made it. We got the keys to our new little house on 18 November and moved in on 21 November. The clearance and moving process was extended as we helped Jenn's Mum move a couple of weeks after we moved out. Jenny and I moved 3 houses in 6 weeks. First out of Merstham, next out of Jenny's Mum's and lastly moving Jenny's Mum to a down-sized property. Exhausting but ultimately worth the wait. Now we start the unboxing and clearing up on our new place. It is great to have our own space at last. More restrictions led to a quiet Christmas... So, my Friends this year hasn't been all doom and gloom.
It has been different and changed our outlook just a little. We need to be happy with and cherish what we have. We need to look after those nearest and dearest to us. We need to be kind. Here's to a better 2021. Happy New Year 7/9/2020 1 Comment COVID-19 restricted catchup...** I started this update with very good intentions, but time constraints, work loads and demands on personal time have taken their toll on the quality and wordplay that I would like. Many apologies for this, but I hope it will provide a coherent time line of goings-on. ** A long time since the last update, but we have been V-E-R-Y busy. Both Jenny and I have been working since 1 June. Lately, the Canon Europe and Canon UK offices are slowly opening up - staff are expected to work 2 days a week in the office while restrictions are lifting. The Postroom was busy before, so we are under the cosh a little at the moment. Jen is providing more "normal" meals - rather than packed lunches for more children (with less staff hours), so we are both up against it at the moment. Any way, just what has been going on ? We had a couple of visits to Wisley on 27 June and 26 July. One of our favourite places and the gardens always provides a lovely distraction. < more 27 June here > < more 26 July here > . The big one (of course) was our wedding. Plans had been in place for a while, but the Coronavirus situation and restrictions did their best to snooker them. We weren’t sure it could even go ahead until about three weeks before, regardless of it’s form. The Mansion House Registry Office in Leatherhead would normally hold 45 or so, which meant plenty of room for our originally invited 35-ish guests. Pre-opening advice was that following a COVID-19 review, to maintain social distancing and “COVID-19 Security”, maximum capacity would be 10 (including dignitaries and the bride and groom), so the guest list would need to be looked at IF the wedding was allowed to take place. We sent appropriate messages warning guests that we might have to either cut down the guests at the ceremony drastically or as a last option worst case, postpone until the Registry Office re-opened for business. Everyone took this pretty well, the 6 guests who would receive their “Golden Ticket” would be Jenny’s Mum and Layla, my sons James and Chris and Jen’s sister Sarah. The sixth place was taken of necessity by my friend and colleague from Canon, Dave Parry who had kindly agreed to revert to his old job for the day and take some photos of proceedings. Boris and the government granted permission for small weddings to recommence a couple of weeks before our date, so with a sigh of relief, we were able to plan the day and subsequent garden based reception in earnest. Dave suggested that we take formal photos at the venue and in the grounds, together with the now permitted video of the event itself. We decided that a meet up somewhere else on the way back to Reigate would enable some other slightly less central players to get into some photos and enjoy them. In the end, (actually while Jenny and I were having our pre-ceremony interview), James or Chris suggested a stop at Reigate Heath for some less formal "formal" photos with other family members. A great day ! We are so happy it could go ahead. The weather was very kind - warm but not as hot as the previous few days. Brilliant. <more Photos here> On 4 August, we headed North for a COVID-19 restricted day out at Whipsnade Zoo. There was a strange feeling, as visitor numbers were very limited. We had a great day as usual, and a nice picnic. <more Whipsnade photos here> A couple of days later, we used our membership of the National Trust and visited Scotney Castle. It is relatively local, pretty and small. Picnic again !! <more here > Taking advantage of Layla's summer stay with her Dad, Jenny and I spent a few days in Staffordshire. We visited family, graves, ruins and had a great time chilling before our next holiday break. <more of Staffordshire here> And then it was off to Yorshire for a family break. We were based near Filey, which was pretty good to pop to Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby. I had never really done the beach thing while visiting the North York Moors, but it was a great week. <more of Yorkshire here> All of which ends with a couple more visits to the beautiful RHS Gardens at Wisley on <30 August> and <26 September>. ...and the house ?
Well, we have managed to exchange contracts at last, completion and moving date SHOULD be the 18 November. ...more about that later. Until next time, Dear Reader Take Care and Stay Safe 12/6/2020 0 Comments COVID-19 : Strange Days #5Just a quick catch up to bring you up to speed. I got the call to return to work from 1 June, as did many people including Jenny. So, with a little trepidation and uncertain of what I would find, I left Merstham at 7 a.m. and had an uneventful journey to Uxbridge which took about 42 minutes. There was little traffic on the "normally" busy M25 or M4.
All that is missing is the staff, who to be fair are generally following advice and working at home unless unavoidable. As I write this (on 17 June), I was told that there had been 27 Canon staff in the Canon Europe office at 3 The Square (which is a high since my return). There are however only 2 staff at the Canon UK office (1 today) at 5 The Square which re-opened on Monday 15 June. There is no official change to the current position regarding weddings but... we have been in touch with the registry office and the word is that they have been assessing the situation and when the go-ahead is given they are ready. Numbers able to attend in the various rooms will be greatly reduced to cater for social-distancing and the 2 metre rule (down from 40 guests to 6). So we are waiting patiently for any easing at the next big announcement date on 4 July. The easing has meant that at least some visits have been possible.
We have enjoyed a couple - a Day at Tidesmill, Seaford and Newhaven and a lovely return to RHS Wisley I shall be venturing onto public transport this coming weekend to visit Mum. Although not really embracing the challenge, the visit needs to be done to keep an eye on her situation. I will be driving to Purley to reduce time spent on the train, but I'll avoid the Underground. Of couse, I shall be wearing face coverings, using hand sanitiser and washing hands often. These are Strange Times. Let's be careful out there... 16/4/2020 0 Comments COVID-19 : Strange Times #2Three weeks and more into the Lockdown and an extension has just been announced. Life is a wave of enjoyable, frustrating, annoying, restful, and dull. I actually have a better time of things as I have somehow become the household's nominated shopper. Additionally I have to leave Jenny's house every two days to go back to mine and feed Blakka the cat, so at least I have some variety. If people have no garden to stroll in, or their local park has been closed due to "Covidiots" congregating and ignoring the social-distancing guidelines , it must be near hell. I have had to make one drive to London to drop a food and grocery package at my Mum's in Covent Garden. It was Saturday and absolutely bizarre. No traffic at all. I recorded the section from Trafalgar Square sown Whitehall to Parliament Square and the only other traffic was 3 buses and one car. At 09:00 Central London was like a ghost town. <view via Google Photos here> All I can say is thank goodness for the social media and Lego or other brick building h pastimes ! I have had an Isolation Birthday, which is different than any other I have experienced. Any "normal" family gathering or trip to a history lesson or site is out of the question. Jenny and Layla did their best to jolly me along, but entertainment and fun had to be at home. After the daily "PE with Joe Wicks" on YouTube, card and present opening took place. I was a very lucky boy to receive the Steamboat Willie Lego set from Jenny (kind gifts from brother Terry and another large Lego kit from Chris, James and families). Very touching renditions of "Happy Birthday" from Jenny, Layla and Wendy, together with two more via social media from nieces Harleigh and Molly & mum Sarah. Chris called via FaceTime (I am not too good at that) as he was on holiday with his family. On 16 April, the COBRA update told us that the isolation lock down would be for at least another 3 weeks. A couple of days later, I saw a throw away posting on Facebook saying that Tesco have some delivery slots opening up. Thinking that they would soon be snapped up, I idly checked their website and found a slot for my Mum in Covent Garden - on 24 April which would coincide with what would have been my next Mercy Mission visit with a food parcel. We have listed the food supplies in the fridge, freezer and cupboards, in preparation for my Saturday morning shopping trip. Personally, my spirits have been lifted by the efforts of 99 year old veteran Captain Tom Moore, who set up to raise £1000 for the benefit of the NHS by walking 100 lengths of his garden by the time he reached his 100th birthday. The word gets out, and sometimes get picked up and promoted by the nation. To date he has raised £15 million - a stunning amount from a humble gentleman. Sir, I salute you. Sadly, the virus is taking more people daily. Each death is of course sad and my thoughts go out to victims and their families. When you see names that you know, it makes you think about the fragility of life and indiscriminate nature of the COVID-19 virus. Today I saw that Norman Hunter, an old school footballer from the great Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s had died. He was amongst the hardest players I have ever seen. From an era when players put themselves on the line for their team. This time, I will leave you with this banner that Leeds fans used to proudly wave at games... Until next time...
#StaySafeAtHome #Save Lives #ProtectTheNHS 4/4/2020 0 Comments COVID-19 : Strange Times #1I have been asked if the events caused by the COVID-19 directives have affected our daily lives... I sent this brief description to my brother Terry who has been settled and living in the USA for many years now. “30 March 2020: Roads and streets are empty - think old school Sunday mornings. Generally people are working from home, if their jobs allow. I was at Canon in Woodhatch last week, and only 2 staff were working at their desks on Tuesday and Wednesday, none at all on Thursday and Friday. Non essential shops are closed - only supermarkets and pharmacy and some food takeaways are open. Schools are closed (except key worker and some vulnerable children). Key workers are NHS, Emergency Services, Distribution, utilities, some catering. In the main, movement from homes is being kept to a minimum. It has been requested (so British 😉) that just one person leaves a household to do shopping, but a family group from the same household can take a short walk / exercise as long as social distancing is observed. Shopping is interesting - queues with 2 metre gaps are long but move quickly 😉 Many shops have a limit on customer in store numbers. Now the panic buying is done, the stocks are getting more normal. Personally, SPS has been asked by Canon to provide a service, so one person is covering. I was in last week, so I am out of the office at least Monday and Tuesday this week. The odd thing is that I am due to start a new job at an SPS site in Guildford on Wednesday, but it is not clear yet if the office is actually open for business at the moment. So, I might still make a Special Guest appearance at Canon later this week. Jenny’s school doesn’t require catering, so she is out now until the end of the mess (talk is 12 weeks, but we shall see). House Purchases and Sales are all but stopped, which is annoying as we have accepted an offer on Dundrey Crescent and surveys etc are just not being done. Of course, with the movement restrictions and Mum being classed as in the vulnerable group, I can’t go up to see her- possibly for 12 weeks 😢 If I am honest, I don’t like the feeling that I can’t do anything as and when I like, but the restrictions make absolute sense with this virus. I saw that with “normal” flu, you generally infect 1.4 people. If they pass it on to 1.4 people and so on for 10 steps, your infection can lead to about 30. COVID-19 is more contagious, so you can pass on to 3 people. If they pass it on to another 3 each and so on for another 10 levels, you are up to 59,000.“ The background is that Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister had announced that schools would close from Friday 21 March. Jenny was suddenly without about 350 children to cook for at the school where she works, it was providing sandwiches for 15 and warm meals for only 25 children and teachers. On Monday 23 March, he told the workforce in the UK that they should work at from home from the following day if their jobs allowed. In truth, at Canon UK the numbers working at the Woodhatch HQ had been dwindling following their decision the previous week to promote home working as a prudent measure during the current situation with the Corona Virus. On Tuesday, the decision was made to reduce the number of “soft service” support staff to a minimum, so cleaning, 2 Postroom, Reception and 1 switchboard operator were sent home. On Tuesday and Wednesday, just 2 staff were working in the two blocks which normally buzzed with 200 plus people. On the last 2 days of my tenure at Canon, no one came in to work at all. Courier deliveries were down to maybe 2 daily. Snail mail came in a very slow trickle. My move to a new job in Guildford has been put on hold as the office is closed during the crisis. For possibly the next three months, I will be classed as a “Furloughed Employee” and will paid 80% of salary by the government, and the remaining 20% by my employer. I shall be staying at Jenny’s for the duration, but popping back to mine to tend to Blakka the cat every couple of days. Slowly, other things in the real world began to bite. The house purchase and sale market was put on hold until further notice. Store shelves which were initially stripped bare following panic buying are recovering and most things are now available if sometimes in short supply. Of more immediate concern is that supermarket food deliveries to my Mum in London (well, anywhere to be honest) are in such high demand that although I had luckily pre-booked one for 3 April, I have not yet found an available delivery slot until at least 24 April. It looks like I will have to break the Golden Rule and take a food package up to her in the car one morning during Easter to top up her fridge and food. Of course, the hard thing will be explaining to her that I will need to not come into the flat even for a quick cup of tea. In actuality, I think that both Jenny and myself are struggling with the feeling that everything is out of our control. I think that even Layla is getting bored - she has school work to do, but it is now officially the Easter holidays. We cannot go anywhere, or visit anywhere, or travel to somewhere, or visit family. Birthday gatherings are out. Weddings are currently off the cards (fingers crossed for Jenny and mine on 1 August). Only funerals can take place with minimal attendees - the great entertainer Roy Hudd’s was recently attended by just 3 immediately family. Just one person can go to the supermarket or pharmacy, keeping the designated 2 metre social distance. Most goods are limited to 2 or 3 only per person to prevent over-buying. I understand completely why the advice is to #StayAtHome to #SaveLives and #ProtectThe NHS. Currently the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK is a Very British Affair - “Come along Chaps, would you stay at home please.” Most people seem to gather around the TV for the daily COVID-19 update from 10 Downing Street. I hope that it works and that the idiotic actions of a few individuals ignoring the social distancing advice do not screw everything up and mean that more draconian measures have to be brought in. Time will tell. I’ll keep you posted ... 23/1/2020 0 Comments Ch.. Ch... Ch... ChangesĀ ??Coinciding with the anniversary of the great David Bowie's death, "Ch... Ch... Ch... Changes" are unfolding in Planet Ratcliffe. First up, Jenny and I have set a date for our wedding. We have been engaged for over a year and been together for over 3 years. Save The Date - 1st August 2020. #WatchThisSpace1 - Ratters Towers in Merstham is on the market with a view to our setting up a new home together with Layla. Currently there is some interest in the house, and we are waiting for things to firm up before proceeding in earnest. #WatchThisSpace2 - Dates are now finalising for the full closure of the Canon HQ at Woodhatch and the move of staff to the Stockley Park site in Uxbridge. <Blog June 2019>.The Postroom will be gone on 31 May 2020. The commute to Stockley Park on the M25 has no place in the plans for our future, so fresh employment opportunities will need to be sought. ... and in other news ... On January 1, Jenny and I spent a leisurely day and paid another visit to Wisley to see the Glow. Lovely as always. <more here> For the weekend of 11 - 12 January, we popped down to Eastbourne for a post-Christmas madness break. It was a very cold one, but we managed to walk by Beachy Head, potter around Alfriston and have a beach stroll in Eastbourne itself. <more here> On Sunday 19 January, we had a nice stroll around Wisley. <more here> More mother care visits to check on the Duchess took place through January. My Dad, Len's (would have been 91st birthday - 5th January) and anniversary of his death (1st January) came and went. My beloved Gunners may have stopped their imminent free-fall by appointing Mikel Arteta as coach. Time will tell, I guess ! I do wonder when the job stopped being "Manager" and became "Coach" ? On which note, I had best take my leave Dear Reader.
Adieu. Take care. Pip..pip!! Until next time xxx Hi there Dear Reader, We have been pretty damned busy since my last one, so I apologise for the lag between my diary posts. We had a warm day at Polesden Lacey on 30 June <more here>. From 16 to 24 July, I was enjoying reliving and celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo XI moon landing. Heroes all. <Apollo Page>. On 14 and 21 July, we popped over to Wisley <more here>. The more observant (or patient) among you will know that the main events of the Summer Holidays have been fun in the Ratcliffe Universe. We have enjoyed brilliant stays on the Isle of Wight and also Disneyland Paris. <Isle of Wight> <Disneyland Paris> The Sunday after we got back from France, we had another enjoyable stroll around Wisley. <more here> Going back to work after the summer breaks and Bank Holiday was hard as the vacation baton was passed on to my supervisor. We were busy, so I struggled in truth to get back up to speed. We started sorting and clearing out some of the "stuff" at mine trying to get my place on the market by the year end. I have had problems with local kids hanging around the drive and using my front wall as a perch or kicking post for a couple of years. I don't react well to it, and it has unsettled me. After visiting my Mum one Saturday in July, I noticed a mark on the window pane. Closer inspection showed the hole and crack in the above photos. This has been the straw that has broken this camel's back, and is the catalyst towards moving and ultimately setting up home with Jenny and Layla. Police reports and insurance claims have sorted out the glass relatively quickly, the rest will take more time... Bookmark this page for that continuing saga... Train routing amendments on Saturday 24 September meant that I rode to Blackfriars instead of London Bridge and Charing Cross when I visited the Duchess. I saw some interesting sights on the way <more here> Later that evening, I discovered that Highway Robbery is still alive and well and being practiced in Brighton. We parked in an NCP car park and when we realised the mistake paid up £6 for 15 minutes and parked across the road from 18:45 to 11:15 for only £4-50, so we were still ahead of the deal. and then... My Christmas present from James and Tara came to maturity on Saturday September 14 at the the Brighton Centre. Professor Brian Cox's World Tour arrived - on the face of it, a bizarre thing - 3,500 people chose to come out on a Saturday evening for a lecture about Space Time, Black Holes, and the Cosmos and Complex Life. ("The Cox" said that could not actually be a lecture because of the price of the tickets). A great night, "Are there any amateur astronomer's in the audience tonight?". "No ? - Good, I can make any rubbish up, then". I found the first half just a little bamboozling in parts - as with some "swottish" TV documentaries for the first 20 minutes I was understanding the content fine, then at somewhere in the region of 35 minutes all I realise is that the speaker is saying words but I am lost ! You have to accept and just move on - it normally works for me ! The second half seemed to be better for me. Oddly, James told me that the reverse was true for him, and he preferred the first half. The show was full of stats and facts -
The Cosmos and what science can tell us about it is just amazing. A Tale of Two Sensors... In the middle of August, dashboard lights came on to tell me that the Electronic Stabilising Program on my 2002 VX Golf had stopped working - awful grinding noises from the brakes and intermittent power also gave a clue that there was a problem, worse of all a dreaded yellow light on the dashboard. My usual mechanic shyed (sic ?) away from the issue as "it is to do with the electrics", so I took his advice and booked the car into a Car Diagnostics Wiz in Merstham. On September 3, he told me that it was the ESP sensor and gave me a part that I would need to source "that would cost about £699 RRP" although you can get them a bit cheaper online. I found some on EBay for about EUR300, but asked James to see if he could find any. He did from Lithuania for £15. As he said, it might not work (as it was used), but you have got to in it to win it. It arrived, James fitted it for me and the light and system is currently OK. Fast forward to Thursday and this shows on Jenny’s dashboard : Initial thoughts were that this was the same problem as on mine. Advice was to get the car to the garage, so this was arranged for a check up the day after. I was off on Friday, due to pick up Jen’s Mum from Bognor in the morning, but Jenny needed to borrow my car to get her to work. We jigged the time table around, and sorted things out. Nothing showed on the short drive to the garage in Reigate. They came up with two recorded unidentified errors after plugging in the diagnostics gizmo which in turn led to leaving it to see when or if it recurred. Hoping that would be it, I drove off, looking forward to a supermarket breakfast as it was only 09:05. I should have been more worried, as sure enough as I entered the one-way system in Reigate, up came the message again. Around the block I drove, back to the garage and spoke to the nice but harassed guy that I had dealt with earlier. Once again he plugged in the machinery and found nothing except a communications error. What he did notice however was a misfire, which he was genuinely concerned about - it had not been happening earlier in the day. Checking under the bonnet as the engine ran, and gestured me to step out and take a look. A quick look at the engine block showed that the right hand side was sparking across the engine block while the misfire was occurring - sparks were literally flying. Figuring that random high voltage discharges from the misfiring plug through the wiring loom and engine block would very likely cause irregular sensor readings, it was quickly decided that the coil block and plugs should be replaced. It was scheduled for that day. Off I walked to Morrison’s for breakfast, after which I picked up the 430 Metrobus to Merstham. Later we collected the car and for £190, the misfire problem has been sorted and no messages are showing. Finally...
Weebly have recently updated their website maintenance pages which has led to some issues which I hope are resolved very soon. Essentially, I have been unable to edit this blog and other pages on that site using a PC. The last few items have been edited on the Weebly App on my iPad, so I hope that it is up to scratch. Until any next time, Dear Reader. Let’s be careful out there. Adieu. Ian 27/3/2019 0 Comments A quiet March ... ?Welcome back, Dear Reader. This has been a quiet month by normal standards, but enjoyable and thought provoking none the less. On 2 March - about a week after our first visit, we took in another trip to see the Great Lego Safari at RHS Wisley. As it was the penultimate day, the site was heaving - we had never known so many visitors at Wisley. Pre-booking an entry time meant a walk straight to the Glasshouse, and in truth it was hard not to look smug again as we walked past the very long ad-hoc entry queue. We left shortly after seeing the Lego Safari exhibits, but went back a couple of weeks later <more details here>. The following weekend (9/10 March), the weather was not too good with high winds and rain, so we chilled and had an easy one. Nice !! On 17 March, Jenny, Layla and I popped back to Wisley to have a Spring Stroll <More Here> Then, seemingly out of nowhere (I had forgotten the date due to workplace shenanigans), on 22 March I went up to the Barbican Centre in London to witness James' Graduation with the OU - he is now a BA (Hons.) Engineering. Brilliant and thought provoking ! <Photo Gallery Here> <Blog Here> Of less interest and entertainment is the Brexit Fiasco trundling on and on. I just can't see how or why this is happening or how the outcome is going to beneficial to any one, let alone the UK. The elected officials all seem to have agendas, none appearing to even want to help sort the Cameron/Johnson/Farage derived mess out. Hopefully, by the time I continue with this Blog string, something will be finalised. Until then, take care Dearest Reader. Adieu and pip pip !! I was preparing my monthly Diary Update style blog and a WhatsApp message from James stirred me into action on Thursday evening: In truth, following staffing issues at the office, I had clean forgotten that I had scheduled an afternoon off probably 2 months ago to attend what was to be a pretty big thing - the first graduation on my side of the family tree - possibly ever. James had been studying for a while (I thought 3 years, but subsequently found out that it was actually 5 years) for his BA in Engineering with the Open University. Not only had be passed the Beast, but had done so with Honours. After hurriedly confirming the time with my supervisor, I put on my smarter clothes and went up to the Barbican Centre in the City of London. I arrived at the Lakeside Terrace at about 13:00 and mooched about until James, his wife Tara and Mum, Jo arrived. James picked up his rented gown and we had some compulsory photos and he went for his “official” paid for portrait. There were a lot of gowns milling about and a lot of certificates to give out and applause to give as speeches were given and the long line of graduates walked across the stage with broad smiles - great achievements all. The Open University is a great body, providing academic possibilities to any one who is ready to put in the time and effort to complete the course work. It is very humbling to hear the stories of people studying for so long while holding down full or part time jobs, raising families, being a carer for someone or even being in custody on Her Majesty’s Pleasure. I take my hat off to them, one and all. Respect. This is a hard gig, and as one child being carried while her Mum got her certificate told the Chancellor lady, “It was boring when Mummy was doing her work”. Without support from spouses, partners, friends and family these achievements would be even harder. Plaudits to everyone involved. James says that he is going on to get his Masters in about 3 years, so watch this space. To say that I am a #ProudDad is an understatement, but these are the simplest words to describe this feeling. <MORE PHOTOS HERE> |
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