The past week it’s seemed like everything in my life has been breaking down - including me! Okay, ‘everything’ is going a bit too far, but a lot has been breaking down. Towards the end of last week I was trying to move old files off my old computer onto a storage device. I had already copied everything from the old computer and integrated it into my new (that is over 4 years old now) computer, deleting much I didn’t want to keep, and also I have everything backed up along with the new stuff. Anyway, I wanted to move everything onto a 4GB USB drive and just keep it as another backup of the old system, which I would probably never refer to anyway. The old PC was 10 years old and although I replaced it 4 years ago it was still working okay, but recently it had been difficult to start up and when I started to move the files after a short while the power cut out. I did manage to get it going a couple more times but it wouldn’t stay on for long, and eventually it just wouldn’t start. I decided it was time to dump it, although I extracted the hard drive and the floppy drive (may be useful!). My chair which I sit on at my computer (and everything else!) also decided to break last week, so I had to go get a new one. Then over the weekend I broke - was feeling real bad, not really sure what it was but I also had a bad stabbing pain in the lower abdomen Saturday night and found it really hard to get to sleep, although I did eventually and when I woke the pain was gone, but I still felt really bad all day Sunday. I was feeling light-headed, had a feeling similar to hunger but it wasn’t that, and I had a dull headache through the weekend. Spent most of it on or in bed. I was okay Monday but it was Monday my next break down came - put something in the microwave and that had given up on me! It had lasted a while, about 15 years I think. So on Tuesday I put the back seats down in the car and loaded it up with broken chair and broken microwave, intending to load the old PC but before I had a chance I broke down again! Had a really bad dizzy spell, had to hold on while everything was spinning around. Only lasted a couple of minutes but decided it was not a good idea to drive and lay on the bed to rest till evening. I checked by BP and it was low, also had that dull headache again, and while dizziness could be related to my heart condition or my diabetes I think it could be vertigo as I’m still convinced my problem with heights is a medical thing and not as the doctor has told me just because I’m frightened of heights. I definitely have a balance problem at times and when I’m in certain height related situations I can become dizzy.

So today (Wednesday) I finished loading up the car with the PC including the monitor - that still works but it is old and very large so I decided best to dump it too. Also got an old electric fire out of the shed which hasn’t been used for years so I took that down the dump too. I do tend to hoard stuff so it was good to be ruthless and get rid of this lot straight away - did that in the morning, had lunch and then drove down to Truro in the afternoon to buy a new microwave. I don’t use the microwave that much, but it is handy, so I got a nice little one for £39.99. At least now I can input the time and let it run till in pings - my old one lost it’s ping ages ago, and although I could set the time it didn’t switch off just kept going.

I’m feeling okay now so hopefully things are back to normal, and please no more breakdowns! Tomorrow, or I should say today (Thursday) as it’s gone midnight, I have to go to Newquay hospital to see the podiatrist for another check-up. The appointment is late morning so I’ll probably have lunch in Newquay and maybe take some photos, although the forecast is rain and heavy winds - so what’s new!

I decided to try and get an even more healthier diet when I went shopping recently, so once again tried salad stuff but again I didn’t really enjoy it - I’m just not a salad person! The content consisted of tomatoes, beetroot and potato, all of which I like, lettuce which is sometimes okay but certainly needs some form of dressing, some coleslaw which is okay and a small pork pie which is maybe not so healthy! I still had much of the ingredients left in the fridge - tomatoes, lettuce, potato salad and coleslaw and beetroot, so I had another go at it for lunch the next day. I also had a quiche left over from the previous week (on it’s best by date) which I bought as a BOGOF offer. One of them had already contributed to 3 meals but I was getting fed up with it which is why I still had the ‘free’ one. Anyway, as it was on it’s final day I thought I would pop it in the oven then leave it to cool down so I could eat it cold in the salad, or at least part of it, then maybe I’d find something for it to go with in a later meal although it was more than likely it would get chucked which seems like a terrible waste, and of course that is topical with all the news about us throwing away so much food.

I am really trying to steer clear of ready meals, but I often seem to have quite a bit in the fridge to get through. On Saturdays I have faggots with mash and mushy peas - the faggots are Mr. Brains (frozen), the mash made the traditional way by boiling Cornish (of course) potatoes then adding a little milk and olive oil when I mash them, the mushy peas come out of a can - well half a can. As the faggots are four to a pack, and I usually buy packs of two (although they haven’t stocked them for months now), I have to put the 4 in the oven but I only use 2 so put the other 2 and half the mash in a small casserole dish and that sits in the fridge as another meal, along with the rest of the mushy peas.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to cut down on cost as well as eat more healthily, ( Read more... )

The world will end on Thursday, June 12 according to self-proclaimed prophet Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins, founder of a religious bunch of nutters sect in America (where else!)…..


DAMMIT!!! Just realised it was yesterday the world ended, missed it again, and I was hoping to get a good shot of it to upload to Flickr! Never mind, maybe next time.

Today has marked another year I’ve survived in this world, that makes a total of 63 so far. There was a time I didn’t think I would reach 40, although of course I did, and it’s scary to be able to remember my 40th birthday so well as it was 23 years ago and just seems more recent than that, just another example of how the older we get the faster time goes by, or at least seems to. I never seem to have the time to do all the things I want to now, and really often I just don’t seem to have the strength to cope with it all.

I feel really drained at the moment after a couple of days trying to sort out problems with the computer/ISP and the telephone. It all started yesterday when I was online in the morning and went to my AOL email to read what was there. Although I have AOL as my ISP I seldom log on to the AOL browser, I use Firefox which is much better, and read any email through the AOL website. One of the emails I found there yesterday was from AOL confirming I have a new Screen Name, which was news to me as I hadn’t set one up. So I logged on to AOL and checking my list of Screen Names there was one extra. I tried to switch to that name but of course couldn’t as I didn’t have the password. The only answer I could imagine was that someone had hacked into my AOL account and set it up for some reason. So I sent an email to AOL Customer Services asking what was going on, although a little later I got an email back acknowledging my email about “Billing” and I would get a reply within the next 24 hours. I decided to check my other Screen Names on AOL to see if they had any email - I never use them so any email is usually any spam that gets through. I found an email again from AOL sent to another Screen Name that was confirmation of an account update and that an account security question had been created - I’ve had this Screen Name for about 7 or 8 years and never asked for this, no reason to. So, now I’m getting a bit worried about what is going on, as this email was dated yesterday just 2 minutes before the other one. I decided I’m not waiting for an email back from AOL and I’ll use the phone, even if it does mean hanging on for ages to be put through! So, I picked up the phone and dialled the Customer Services number - got nothing. I tried again, checking there was a dialling tone, but still got nothing. I tried my sisters number and got a recorded voice saying the number had not been recognised, I then tried my neighbours number and got nothing - by now I knew I also had a phone problem. I had received a call earlier so decided to phone myself using the mobile (for which I had to go outside and try various spots to get a week signal) and I did get through to my answer phone. So, I was getting incoming calls but couldn’t make outgoing calls. It didn’t seem like a problem with the line, as I still had incoming calls and broadband, and I was thinking it may be equipment and the phone was faulty. I got my old phone, plugged it in to the socket and still couldn’t make outgoing calls. I then unplugged the broadband filter from the master socket and plugged the phone directly into that and I was able to make outgoing calls. So, must be the filter, and luckily they provide 4 filters with the modem and I only need 2 so I got another one, plugged it in and had the phone back to normal. By now it was late and AOL don’t run a 24 hour service so I decided to wait till today to phone. Before that I decided to change my Screen Name passwords on AOL and also check my credit card account and AOL account, just in case someone was using my AOL account to get other AOL products and charge to me. Anyway, no sign of any such activity. I had intended phoning this morning but I wasn’t very well and spent much of it in bed, but I did get through this afternoon and although I’m no wiser as to what happened I was given a password to access the new screen name and then I changed the password. It seems the account security question in relation to the other email is the one I set up ages ago, and although it was suggested I change it, which I did, I think the answer to the question was one almost nobody but I would know. Anyway, hopefully with all the passwords changed things are okay now.

Monday May 12 Grasmere & Elterwater

Woke up to another warm and sunny day. I drove to Grasmere which is one of my favourite Lakeland villages. The first car park I came to was full so I had to go into the centre of the village and park behind the garden centre. Parking in the Lake District is very expensive, unless you can find a roadside space outside the village centres, although these are usually taken by the time I get out and about! There are a number of National Trust car parks, and although these are also expensive as a member I get to park for free. ( Read more... )

I was just wondering if Hilary Clinton could sink any lower after her remarks bringing up the possibility of her opponent being assassinated, and thus a reason for her to stay in the race (even the Washington Post suggested that “It sounds like one might be waiting for a terrible thing to happen, even if one isn't. It sounds almost like wishful thinking“., when I read about Liz Trotta, a ’journalist’ and contributor to Fox News, while discussing the Clinton remarks said “now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama, um, Obama — well, both, if we could”, which she follows with a laugh. Check out the video:

Surely a person who suggests someone should assassinate an American presidential candidate has committed some sort of offence, probably under the numerous ‘anti-terrorist’ laws, and both Trotta and Fox News should have received a visit from the Secret Service by now. I’ve no doubt if it was a journalist who was sympathetic to the Democrats and made the same suggestion about the Republican presidential candidate John McCain they would be locked up somewhere by now. Of course, being an extreme right-wing ‘journalist’ working for the extreme right-wing, Bush loving propaganda machine for the Republicans (Fox News owned by Rupert Murdoch) Trotta is safe!

Well, I couldn’t get wi-fi access so had to wait till I got home. I did try but the first place I found with access didn’t work out, and I found another café at Waterhead that had wi-fi access but it was closed every time I went there. I wasn’t really in too many places that would be likely to have it, kept out of the larger towns like Kendal and Keswick. I was planning to update with my holiday journal every day, but I’ve only managed the first week with that and still have to write the second weeks - just hope I can remember everything. I was just so tired every day I couldn’t stay awake in the evenings to do much writing, and although the first week I didn’t have too much of a problem with the legs the second week wasn’t too good. I must admit I was surprised that I managed quite a few longish walks, the leg problem didn’t seem to affect the walking much, which was good. As for the holiday in general the weather was pretty good, the first week hot and dry, the second a little cooler but still dry although more overcast. In fact although this year was so dry compared to last year when it was so wet, I think I got some better skies last year on the few occasions they cleared than this year, and I think I got better shots last year too, I certainly took a lot more photos last year - 3,700 compared to about 1,800 this year.

Okay, here’s the next two days of my holiday journal with a couple of photos…..( Read more... )

This year I’m leaving a day early on my trip to the lakes, as I did last year, spending the first night at Travelodge in Knutsford. The journey gets more tiring as I get older, and I really don’t enjoy motorway driving that much. The weather has been good on the journey, overcast but warm and dry with just a couple of short showers. As last year there was quite a bit of congestion in certain areas, mainly around Bristol and Birmingham, and the M6 between Birmingham and Knutsford. Not roadworks this year, usually just where the traffic is slowed down, although it gets a bit ridiculous reading signs telling you the max speed is 40 when you’re in traffic crawling along at between 5 and 10. At one point there was an accident, looked like 3 or 4 cars involved, although all were on the central reservation grass. For some reason the traffic on the Southbound lanes seemed at a standstill for quite some distance, even though the accident was on the Northbound carriageway. Maybe the traffic had been stopped for the air ambulance or some similar reason.

I arrived at Knutsford around 5.30pm (last year it was around 6.45pm), so again just as well I wasn’t going all the way as I would have been at Windermere too late to collect my keys. Maybe the traffic is getting worse or maybe it’s better on a Saturday. I quite like Knutsford, the Travelodge is attached to the main services building and there is a nice restaurant on the bridge over the motorway. Like to sit there and watch the idiot drivers - and there’s plenty of them! There is wi-fi access here so I’m online on my new laptop, although I’ve had to pay for it - £10 for a day! I wanted to check my email and do some things on Flickr, so had to make a dent in my holiday spending. If I can get access in the lakes I’ll be back on and try to update daily, if not it will have to be when I get back.

Soon after I got back from the doctor Tuesday I had lunch then slept most of the afternoon - I was really tired by then. The stabbing pains that kept me awake during the night didn’t return when I lay down, there was just a stinging sensation in the leg which wasn’t enough to stop me sleeping. The doctor said I had a serious infection in the left leg and put me on a course of antibiotics - two blue capsules taken 4 times a day. I’ve been on these before, and they are not easy to plan out, they have to be taken on an empty stomach or an hour before eating, and spaced out evenly through the day. My main worry with taking these blue capsules is that I could turn into a Smurf!

I still have a pile of work to get back to, apart from all the Country Walking magazines even once I’ve sorted through them and pulled out articles and walks I want to keep, I will have to put them and many others I’ve put aside into the clear pockets and then into binders. I also have a load of paperwork to do, much of it financial including forms for the past 6 years where I’m trying to reclaim tax I’ve overpaid, and there are other records I have to update, I’ve been trying to sort out my contact records - addresses, phone numbers, emails etc. Over the years I’ve accumulated a number of address books, organisers and other forms of records and now I’m going through them trying to get them all together in one organiser - well, not just one, I’ve got a new filofax which will have all the info and also a large organiser which has a lot of local info etc. and useful phone numbers/emails for trades people (milkman, plumber etc.). I’m also trying to update my lists of website user names, logins and passwords. I do have them in an organiser but they have been scribbled down over the years in no particular order and so it’s getting more difficult to find them when I want them. I’ve got about 70 written down but there are probably more I just rely on memory for. I’ve also been trying to change my email address on many of the sites where I get mail sent to my AOL email address, and I’m trying to get everything to my gmail address as I want to change sometime from AOL to another ISP, probably BT.

I tend to get a fair amount of spam email at my old AOL email address, although I must admit AOL does pick it up and puts it in a spam folder, but I check it each day because they also pick up genuine emails from time to time and treat them as spam. Anyway, it’s a fair assortment of offers on prescription drugs, viagra, enlargement of a certain part of anatomy, etc., and of course one of the largest types is from people trying to con me pretending to come from my bank (various banks where I don’t have an account, sent on the off chance they may get the right bank one day), several from eBay or Paypal asking me to update my account details - accounts I don’t have!, and of course the numerous ones from people wanting to send me millions of pounds which I have inherited or they want to defraud etc., the assumption here is that most of us are so greedy we will turn a blind eye to the obvious illegality if we get a good cut. I always ignore them of course, sometimes I read the odd one as they are a good laugh, and the ones supposed to come from banks I report to Bank Safe Online. The following email was in my inbox a few days ago which gave me a good laugh…..

I am Chuckie Taylor son of former Liberia President who is presently in detention at The Hague awaiting trial by the International Court of Justice {ICJ} over allegations of war crimes in the 90s. I visited my father in prison early this year and he told me that he deposited One Trunk Box containing Diamonds worth over Five Million American Money in Security vault for safe keeping. My father told me that he took the action of depositing the box of diamond in the security vault because he envisaged that his assets could be confiscated if perhaps he is arrested and now that has happened. The government of Liberia has seized all the known diamond deposits of my father and since they were not aware of this box deposited in the vault, there is need that I ship it out in your name as the rightful owner. All I need from you is your address where the box will be delivered in your country and your identification to enable me know and locate you when I arrive your country for

I will compensate you after I have sold the diamonds. Note that you are not expected to make any expenses or provide any other personal information for the purpose of this transaction. All I need from you is your assurance that you will not disappear with the box of the diamonds if the shipment gets to you. I will send my identification to you once you indicate your willingness to receive the shipment for me. Check this webpage as evidence: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2963086.stm

Yea, sure, I believe him - the first person the son of the corrupt ex-president of Liberia would turn to in order to help him by sending $5,000,000 worth of diamonds is me, a complete stranger. Of course, the most amazing thing is that there will be people who receive this email who will actually go along with it.

I phoned the surgery and have an appointment to see the doc at 11.10, so will have to make a move soon. No more stabbing pains since I had my shower, although that may be because I’m not laying down now.

I’ve been very busy lately which is one reason I haven’t been posting. I’ve had loads of stuff to sort out, like physically sorting through piles of old magazines and chucking them. There were some which I subscribe to and come in the post, and I thought those still in their wrappers would maybe be a few months old but some went back to January/February last year! There are some I like to keep, mainly National Geographic and Geographical, and I had been saving copies of ComputerActive since it was first published but I decided to bin them up to the end of 2006, so now I just have last year and the first few of this year. Anyway, I’ve sorted most of thos and others, now it’s mainly copies of Country Walking which I have to sort through and cut out anything I want to keep - like articles on the Lake District, Cornwall, Devon and any other places, and also walks in these places from the walks section. I’ve been putting them in A4 transparent pockets and then into ring binders. I did the same with some of the more interesting stuff in the more recent ComputerActive mags.

I think I’d better make a move, will post more later……….probably!

Early morning and feeling pretty awful. Haven't slept since 3am, problems with the legs again - well, I always have problems with the legs, most of the time it's just daily self-treatment with minor complications which sometimes get close to becoming major, and this is more uncomfortable than painful, but now for the first time in just over a year my left leg has a major ulcerated area which has been very painful over night. Laying in bed trying to sleep and every 2 or 3 minutes I get this stabbing pain in the leg, not easy to sleep like that. Anyway, time for my shower and think I'll see the doc later and see if I can get some antibiotics for the leg - don't like to take them too often but I think they are the only way to clear this problem up, and anyway last lot I had was over a year ago.

Need to sort things out for my holiday which is getting every closer, just over 3 weeks and I'll hopefully be taking shots of this again...


Will try and write a proper update later today.

I meant to post this yesterday, but was really tired and fell asleep all afternoon, did the same late evening and woke up in the early hours of the morning not feeling very well. Not too bad now but still feeling very tired.

Will have to wake up in a few minutes as I have to go do the shopping. I do wish Pam on Radio Cornwall would stop talking about chocolate Easter eggs, she’s tempting me to be a naughty boy and get one although I know it’s not good for me. Maybe a small one as a treat, and some hot cross buns.

Thursday (20th) was the Vernal Equinox and I went to Newquay for the afternoon, ( Read more... )

Got the new (used) car, took it for a little drive yesterday and another late today, happy so far although I still miss my old one. I was thinking of taking it for a longer drive today but still had a lot to sort out with phone calls to the DVLA and several to my insurance company, and some more paperwork. Now I’ve got everything sorted up to now, legal papers posted to the insurance company legal department, got the car and sorted the insurance for it, and I’ve also got a big hole in my savings now! I’ve managed to get an increase in the valuation of my old car although not a lot, but at least it will put something back into my savings. Anyway, here’s a pic of the new car…


If the weather is good tomorrow I’ll go for a longer drive somewhere, will be good to get out although I still have a lot to do at home where I’ve been sorting through all the junk I have here and chucking stuff to make some room.

Still having problems related to the accident, mainly with trying to get mobile again and all the paperwork involved because the liability is being disputed - I guess my car, which was parked outside my home while I was in my front room, must have jumped in front of the other car as it came off my neighbours lawn and across the road at a speed well in excess of the 10mph limit on the park!

The hire car was taken back last Thursday so I’ve been without transport since then. Couldn’t go to Tesco at Wadebridge for my weekly shopping on Saturday so had to walk up the town and get some essentials in the small co-op. I’ve been wanting to get down to Cornish Market World for a few things but unable to do so in the past few Sundays. Even when I had a hire car or the courtesy car I was a bit concerned driving them in case anything happened - I know some people would think it’s silly but I’m much easier with my own things rather than hiring or borrowing anything.

Apart from Cornish Market World I had plans over the past 3 weeks for some visits, some gardens to see the early spring plants, some National Trust properties and St. Ives to see an exhibition at the Tate. Maybe the weather will keep nice as it is today and I will be able to do some of those things when I get my new (used) car which I’m picking up today. I’ve had to eat into my savings for it but at least I will be mobile again. I had a call from my insurance company in the past hour about the valuation on my old car, which I was contesting, and eventually I got an increase although not a lot. I said I would accept it because I just want to get some of my life back again. I’ve spent most of the weekend going through the legal papers from the insurance company’s legal department, I think there was about 8 pages to fill in, they want to know so much!

I shall have to leave soon to go and pick up my new (used) car, just hope it proves to be as reliable as the old one. Just a few weeks to go before my Lake District holiday this year so it will get a good test on the motorway up there.

Better go.

I had a nice little car, a V reg (1999) Fiesta Zetec which I bought in 2001 when I was made redundant (up till then I had a company car).My little Fiesta was very reliable, never any major problems and always passed it’s MOT without a problem. Just a month ago it had it’s annual MOT and a service, each costing £40. There were times I considered trading it in for a newer car but since it was so reliable and cost so little to run I didn’t. Now I don’t have my nice little car because SOME %$*&@~$ IDIOT SMASHED INTO IT WHEN IT WAS PARKED OUTSIDE MY HOME AND IT IS NOW A WRITE-OFF!!!

I’ve not been having a good time lately, been trying since Christmas to sort out a lot of problems and get my life back into some order. Last week on the Monday (Feb 25) I was sitting here in my front room working on the computer trying to get my records up to date, when I heard an almighty crash and when I turned my head to look out the window see my car being pushed sideways into a tree. The car that hit mine had been parked 3 cars behind me, and the driver moved off from their parking position seeming to loose control immediately as they went across the road and over my next door neighbours lawn, turned back onto the road and shot across into my car at some speed, pushing the rear of my car onto the pavement and then pushing it sideways into a tree in the garden opposite my house. The owner of the other car didn’t have his insurance with him but I got his name, address and the name of his insurance company and got on to my insurance company to sort it out, although later that evening his father who is one of my neighbours came round to offer to patch the car up himself but I wasn’t letting him near it, and told him I’d already been on to my insurance company. Later he came back offering me £200 - ha! ha!, then he asked me to get 3 estimates and he would pay, saying his son didn’t want to lose his no-claims - tough, I wasn’t interested. Later some other neighbours told me he was saying he’d offered me £500 to get it repaired, which was a lie.

Next day the insurance company phoned and said their approved garage in the area had been passed my details and would contact me, which they did about 2 minutes later! They arranged to pick up my car the next day and leave me a courtesy car. On Monday the insurance company’s engineer phoned me and said the car had been written off because it was too expensive to repair and gave me a valuation which I will contest. Anyway, the garage then phoned me to say they would be collecting the courtesy car that afternoon, so I got onto the insurance company to get a hire car and that arrived today. I’m not sure how long I will have that as the other drivers insurance company say they are not accepting liability, so it’s gone to my insurance company’s legal department. I just wish someone would explain to me how someone can lose control of their car, drive over someone’s lawn and then smash into a parked car and claim they are not liable for the damage. Anyway, I hope it doesn’t drag on as I want to get another car of my own, and I go on holiday to the Lake District in 9 weeks.

So, now I’ve got a load more things to keep me busy, as if I hadn’t got enough to take up my time already. I’ve been checking on used car prices for my car to contest the valuation I’ve been given, and also newer cars to see if maybe I should get a more recent one as mine was 9 years old. I quite like the hire one I have now which is also a fiesta but just a few months old. Of course it will mean using up some of my precious savings but maybe it’s time I got a more recent model. After all I can’t take it with me, which reminds me something else I’m doing at the moment is making my will :(

Last Thursday I went over to Eden for the afternoon, needed a break, and took a few pics ( Read more... )

At first I just wrote “depressed” as the subject, then for some reason I had a look at the first post I made in January last year and this is how it started:
STILL DEPRESSED!
Yes, I am still depressed, as I was before Christmas, and it’s still my legs. On New Year Eve I wrote they were getting better, but since then they have deteriorated again and I had to go to the surgery yesterday, and I have yet another medication to try!
Things haven’t changed much over a year, I’ve nursed my legs through another 12 months and although they are not so bad as a year ago in some respects they are still a problem, mainly because on my right leg I have two areas currently causing a problem and one of them is just above the heel which makes it difficult to walk as it just irritates the skin, and that means I haven’t been out much over the past few weeks apart from doing the weekly shop at Tesco. I’m still having problems with my back too, even buying a new mattress back in October hasn’t made any difference to that, and since Christmas and up to a couple of days ago I’ve had a really nasty neck ache which has been very slow to clear up, and I’ve had bad headaches which seem to have been associated with the neck…..and (yes another and) I’m still feeling so tired most of the time, having to keep lying down to rest several times a day. I know some people would love to do that several times a day but it’s so annoying as I have so much I want to do - so much I really must do!

One of the things I have done is book my May holiday in the Lake District, which is quite good as I usually leave it later and don’t get so much choice. I decided to book the same place I had last year, which I really liked as the apartment was almost perfect. The location was good although a fairly long walk down/up a rather steep hill to get to the shops and centre of Bowness. ( Read more... )

I just started to type this and my alarm has just gone - means I have to get ready to go to the surgery for a blood test! Oh well, still time for a few lines I guess, my second alarm will go in less than 10 mins which means "move it!"

I'm getting better - 2nd update this year and it's only the third day! I've been quite busy trying to sort a load of things out, papers all over the place and I need to make some proper records of things rather than just notes on bits of paper. I'm always buying various notebooks and record books to use for this but never get round to using them - I think I'm turning into a blank notebook collector!

Think I'd better make a move, never know what the traffic is like in town, maybe write some more later.

Meanwhile....

...from my Lake District holiday last May, starting to look forward to this years now.

That year went by fast - again! In fact the last week since Christmas Eve went so fast I almost missed it - in fact I think I did. I was determined to write more after my last post, that same day - but as usual I let it pass me by. I really must try and sort myself out this year, and I really will try to post more regularly. Maybe that should be my New Year Resolution, or maybe not since I probably don't keep those. I think what I really need to do is try and beat this tiredness thing, although yesterday (New Years Eve) I managed to keep awake all day, on Sunday I slept most of the day. I was late getting up, then I had maybe half and hour or an hour on the computer, then felt tired and lay down. I only woke just before 1.00pm and had to prepare a quick lunch, then after another short spell on the computer I felt tired again and lay down and fell asleep till around 5pm. It annoys me so much as I have so much I want to do.

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2008.

Happy Christmas and a Good New Year from Cornwall.

I know, it's ages since I've written anything here. Right now I've got to finish cooking my Christmas dinner - got the turkey (frozen breast joint) in the over so now gotta get on with the spuds, parsnips and other bits. I may actually shock anyone reading this by writing more later!

Today has been the 20th anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987. On the night of October 15/16th 1987 the Great Storm left a trail of destruction across the South East of England. At the time I was living in Kent, a few miles outside of Sevenoaks (renamed Oneoak the next day!) in an area which was hit hard by the storm - the worst since 1703. The storm took the lives of 18 people, severely damaged many buildings and brought down about 15 million trees in the South East alone. I can remember that night well, there was no way I could sleep through that with the wind howling outside and through the window I could see trees falling down in the back garden. I don’t remember exactly when, but at some time the power failed as falling trees, branches and other airborne debris cut electricity and telephone cables. I don’t remember how long we were without electricity and phone, about 5 days I think, and of course back then we didn’t have mobile phones. I spent the night listening to the local radio, and trying to see what was happening outside through the windows. When dawn came the winds had died down but were still very strong, I could see more of the devastation outside but it wasn’t safe to go out yet. Later that day when I did venture out I walked up the lane and it was blocked with fallen trees, I scrambled through and reached the main road but the same story and no traffic. The main road was cleared in a day or so, although the side roads took longer and a lot of that work was done by locals getting out their chainsaws and attacking the fallen trees. I can’t remember how long it was before I could get to work, maybe 2 or 3 days before I could drive, although I may have walked as it was only about 4 or 5 miles although even walking was impossible at first. We had gas at home so cooking and heating water was okay, just no power for lighting or the fridge/freezer and washing machine. I seem to remember walking to the farm shop on the main road to get some food and milk. I only wish at the time I’d kept a diary as after 20 years things are not so clear.

When I did manage to get out in the car I took a few pics, although by then the roads were fairly clear but the destruction was clear to see…( Read more... )