Month: October 2024

Sunday, 27th October, 2024

Lovely, clear morning of blue sky and sunshine although not warm. For some, strange reason, Worthing held its Bonfire & Fireworks event last night. The funfare had been arriving on the sea front all week. The old pallets had been delivered by the lorry load for days and the weather was marshalled to be dry and clear.

The town was virtually cut off to normal traffic and all carparks commandeered for Bonfire visitors. It was obviously a triumph and the weather, which is normally wet on Bonfire night played ball. It took me back immediately to family bonfires as a child. We were fortunate enough to have a big garden and Mum & Dad put on a firework and bonfire display for the family along with a Firework Supper of Jacket Potatoes & Parkin or Ginger Bread. The fireworks were so different then – Sparklers, Catherine Wheels that stuck half way round, Roman Candles that were beautiful but tame, Jumping Jacks and Bangers that are illegal now and rockets that burnt and faded too quickly.

Down at the beach this morning, gloriously warm and sunny walking. If you are ever fed up, this is the place to come. It lifts spirits immediately.

While I was walking, three old ladies came out of a beach hut in their swimming costumes and proceeded to walk, shrieking with pleasure, straight into the sea. In the last few days of October!

Monday, 28th October, 2024

A very different day – warm but windy with cloud overhead. The tide was coming in and the sea reflected the colour of the sky combined with the sand churned up by the waves.

It wasn’t a morning for old ladies to be venturing out in bathing costumes. The red flag of Socialism had been raised with warnings that blue-rinse ladies swam at their own risk.

Fifteen years ago today we received acknowledgement that we had paid off our last ever mortgage. For years, we had deliberately stretched ourselves with ever larger borrowings against ever more valuable properties constantly shopping around for cheaper mortgages. Our final Lender was the ultimately failing Northern Rock. It ceased trading three years after we paid them off.

We have bought three properties since but with cash and it is a great feeling to be not in debt to anyone. We are into our 9th year here in this house but already my wife is agitating for the consideration of a move. She sights the general rule that you shouldn’t stay in a new build house for more than ten years. We had a 5 yr full Builder’s warranty and then have an additional 5 yrs under the NHBC warranty. Our builders – David Wilson – are still supporting us even though we are way out of our warranty because they sell themselves on quality and reliability as opposed to cheapness. That was a real consideration when we chose them over our previous builders – Taylor Wimpey. Personally, I am very happy here with lovely neighbours and facilities but change must constantly be on the agenda lest we fossilise.

Felt a bit sad and empty this afternoon. Chopin, of course, is the perfect companion at this time. It has been with me for more than 50 years. The Nocturnes cut through me like the knife of loss, the lost years.

Tuesday, 29th October, 2024

Love this warm weather as the month of October puts its coat on and prepares to leave the house. The trees are turning but still clinging on. Strong November winds will be needed to dislodge them.

Trying hard to distract myself with politics and purchases, walking and wonderful skies. Pauline has been relying on an Amazon Kindle now for over 20 years. When it came out in 2007, it was quite revolutionary for lots of reasons that many still don’t realise. If you are still stuck in the analogue mode of paperbacks, you don’t know what you are missing.

The Kindle allows you to review, select, store and carry round thousands of books to read at any time. It did/does this by storing books in the Cloud well before its time. It provided ‘free’ access to the internet anywhere there was a mobile signal. While we were all treating our computers and laptops as fragile and easily corrupted, the Kindle was made to carry around in a handbag, surviving all sorts of knocks. Quite brilliant in retrospect.

Twenty years on and after the introduction of the iPad, the Kindle goes on developing. This week will see the release of a much improved colour version. Guess who is having one.

Full fathom five thy father lies
Of his bones are coral made
Those are pearls that were his eyes
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange

The Tempest – Ariel’s Song

Warm and bright with big sea and big sky this morning. It is a scene for dreaming … what is out there for us on the horizon, in the future? How far is it to rim of the world? How long? What do you think, Dear Reader?

Wednesday, 30th October, 2024

A grey day. I want the sun. Warm walking this morning but the quiet sea was reflective of the mood. Dreaming of sunshine. Please don’t make me wait too long.

This morning, other than walking, has been taken up with medical affairs. I hate it. It makes me feel so old. I am old but I’m not old. I don’t want medication but I have to take prescription medication. I don’t want to see doctors but I need to seek their help. I want to live not just a long time but a healthy, long time. I always contrast then and now. The decade of the 1970s saw me never visit a doctor. Indeed for most of it, I didn’t have a doctor. Neither, regrettably, did I visit a dentist.

This morning has involved collection of repeat prescriptions ordered online. Booking blood tests online to coincide with a full-body CT scan leading to a Oncology review in December. The review will be a remote one unless the test results are really serious and urgent. This is the new, Labour Health Service. If I’ve got to seek help, I like it.

Our adopted place, Angmering, is a village between Littlehampton and Worthing in West Sussex on the edge of the South Downs National Park. As I have written recently, it is rapidly expanding but, as this photo from the Village Green, still maintains much of its charm. As we enter our 9th year here and think about our long term prospects, I for one would be happy to keep what we have. It will a lot of thought to consider uprooting again … unless it is to the Meditererranean sunshine.

The afternoon is given to the Labour budget – the first ever Budget delivered by a woman. It has been an historic event for many reasons but it was wonderful to watch. A budget for investment without so many of the Tories predicted taxes. No fuel duty tax. No extension to tax band maintenance which would lead to fiscal drift. No additional taxes on alcohol – all things that the Right Wing had tried to scare the electorate with. Instead, money for the NHS, Education, Transport, Social Housing and the Green Economy.

Thursday, 31st October, 2024

Routines of the day shopping, walking, talking, writing. Routines are where we live. The rhythms of our lives are places to hide, suspend thought and feeling:

What are days for?
Days are where we live.   
They come, they wake us   
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:   
Where can we live but days?

Philip Larkin – Days – Whitsun Weddings

But there is something about routines which anaesthetise one against the sharp edges of the challenges of existence. We can put our minds into auto-pilot and not engage for a while. At times, we all need to step out of our routines to see the real context of our lives. Those who don’t like to stop and look back or pause to project forward never see themselves in the stark realism of the context of their lives.

Talking about looking back and historical context, the poem is from a book by Philip Larkin that I bought new in 1973 for 42p. Now, if you wanted to buy this specific edition on line it would cost you £44.00. That is how old I am.

I first accessed the internet in the early 1990s through a normal telephone line and dial-up modem. In the next decade, I had two ISDN lines spliced together to provide Broadband which was still very slow and cranky. For the past 20 years, I have had BT Broadband and, since moving here, that has been on superfast, gigabit full fibre supply.

For many years, I have had two mobile phones supplied with unlimited calls and data by EE Mobile. Their service has been unparalleled. I have seen no reason to change until BT bought out EE. This week I was contacted to be told that my accounts would move over from one to the other automatically if I didn’t do it myself but I was offered incentives to jump rather than be pushed. I did that this morning.

I don’t know why but I chose to keep my landline. I don’t know why but I do use it. It is one of those old-person routines I am finding hard to throw away. I never go anywhere without my mobile phone but we have six, wireless, digital handsets which are scattered around the house and are looking rather last decade’s technology.

The trouble is, my smartphone is my diary, my phone book, my address book, my To-Do list, my Photograph Album, my Calculator, my app acccess, my everything and I find it hard to speak into it and access it for information at the same time.

So, as I phoned BT this morning, I used my landline but had my smartphone available for my BT app and my EE app to access account information. To verify it was me, they sent me pin numbers via my smartphone text app while talking on my landline. This is the stage I’m at but, as I negotiated the switch, the Salesman asked if I really wanted to keep my landline or give it up and save £120.00 a year. I heard myself saying, For such a small saving, I’ll keep it. but my head was saying the opposite. After all, we have unlimited ‘free’ calls with both. For the next month, we are going to run an experiment at home. Whenever we need to phone someone, we will only use our smart phones and see how we get on. Then we will decide.

Friday, 1st November, 2024

Good bye to October 2024. You will never see it again other than in memory. I would like to welcome November but it is rather grey and downbeat. Bit depressing really. Warm though as I walked along the coastal path this morning.

My friend, Kevin, suffers from SAD Syndrome. He reacts to lack of sunlight with depression. Because of that, he likes to get away for regular weeks to Spain throughout the year. It is a quick, cheap hop from Leeds/Bradford to Alicante.

Kevin’s destination of choice is Benidorm. I must admit, it wouldn’t be mine. He enjoys Karaoke. I couldn’t imagine anything worse.

Of course, he leaves for Spain just as the country is reeling from natural disaster in Valencia. The flooding has already claimed over 200 lives including those of tourists.

We spent a week in Valencia about 5 years ago and absolutely loved it. We stayed in a lovely hotel on the edge of the dry river basin that has been developed as a park and a culture centre with Museum, Art Gallery, Concert Hall and Opera House alongside beautiful buildings and water features. Everybody there appears to lead such a healthy lifestyle – jogging, cycling, walking, kayaking – in the park which goes on literally for miles.

We learnt that the river bed was dry because the water of the River Turia had been diverted away from the town after a very serious flood in 1957 which claimed many lives. The town used that disaster to assert a new and vibrant life of Culture, of Arts & Science. Lovely people. Lovely Food. Lovely weather (quite often).

Saturday, 2nd November, 2024

A warm, dry, grey day which, we are told, will lead to a warm, dry, grey week ahead. I have lots of old-person things to get through in the next week including hospital appointments, eye examinations and other exciting stuff. I’m going to try again with a new pair of varifocal glasses and I’m going to have my new broadband installed around the house. I could do it myself but the service comes ‘free’. I know, Dear Reader, how will I cope with such a dramatic week?

There is an interesting news item that caught my imagination this weekend. It is a series on BBC R4 called The Gift about DNA Testing and some surprising results. It is called The Gift because DNA Testing Kits tend to be presents for the person who has everything.

You will know, Dear Reader, of my interest in Historical Research, Ancestry Research and People Research. DNA testing combines all three strands of research in one effortless activity. I have thought of buying one many times but been a little concerned about what it would reveal.

Of course, most reveal entirely mundane information about where your gene pool is most concentrated in the UK and across the world. Some Brexiteers would get a few shocks about their European origins but little more than that. So many people have now had DNA tests that there is a large database nationally and internationally of results to inform us of our gene pool.

The frightening bit that has always put me off is the medical history/projection area of our Life Plan. Do I want to know Genetic Conditions and Hereditary Diseases that I might have inherited? Do I want to know my Cancer risk: whether I am predisposed to get some types of cancer? When I was younger, I really didn’t want to blight my future with the knowledge of what might come. Now I’m older, I am quite keen to know what I may have to face. It would be helpful to prepare and try to mitigate anything I can.

In the case being reported this weekend, a fascinating story of wrong identity emerged. A lad who took the test found all the expected things of his family on the results but suddenly realised that his sister’s name was wrong. He was able to contact the woman who was claimed to be his real sister. She had also done a test and found something wrong. To cut a long story short, the two girls had been born in the same hospital at the same time and, somehow been mixed up in the ward. Now, 55 years later, these girls are being reunited with their real mothers.

I think I know what I’m buying for Christmas.

Sunday, 20th October, 2024

A grey, breezy, wet morning. Still very warm but I’m going nowhere beyond a walk across the garden to the Gym. I’ve just been told that Greater Manchester has actual wind and North Wales has severe gales. Inhabitants are advised not to travel at all. Here, travel is all I want to do but Pauline’s got a couple of medical appointments to attend this week so I won’t be going anywhere.

I was noticing a Van Gogh Exhibition at the National which is on this month and through to January which I quite fancy but other things come first. Got to get Pauline’s problems sorted out first and I have follow-ups to my prostate cancer in the next few weeks with a full body scan. When that was first mooted, I though it was great but a little excessive.

Having read about Chris Hoy this weekend, I’m beginning to understand. He has Stage 4, terminal cancer which was found in his shoulder but soon discovered to have originated in his prostate. The cancer had metastasized and is now throughout his body. My scan is to make certain no cancer has esaped from my prostate and I will be on edge until it is done. As I understand it, I will have a full body scan once a year for life or until they consider me too old to bother at which point, I will have to pay for it privately. Apparently, hours in the saddle each day increase the risk of prostate cancer considerably. I spend 30 mins a day on an exercise bike but I don’t know if that counts.

We can only do what we can to keep the plates spinning, to remain healthy as long as possible and to enjoy our lives. Healthy food, healthy exercise, mental stimulation and maintaining friendship groups all are prescribed to that end.

Monday, 21st October, 2024

A grey morning. Dry but threatening. Lovely and warm with a dry, warm week in prospect which will allow me to get some outside jobs done. When the radio comes on at 5.45 am it is still dark-ish now. Actually, the clocks go back next Saturday night/Sunday morning so we’ll all gain an hour.

Like a stopped clock, I go on about my enthusiasm for the new, for innovation, for the move from analogue to digital. I’m going to go on about it again today as the Labour government launch their push for a new, digital record in the NHS. I’m enthusiastic about it.

In October 2000, my bank contacted me and asked if I would like to be on the trial group using their newly launched online banking site. My identifier was 0001. It was great fun and look where it has taken us. Almost everyone who still has a brain uses a mobile phone to pay in shops and uses online accounts to pay across the web. They have internet access to/control over their bank accounts and investment/savings accounts. On street banking outlets are disappearing fast and the whole process is rapidly abolishing cash altogether.

When Pauline’s Mum was in her 90s, she was admitted to hospital many times. Often it was for a day or two and then off home. Each time, we accompanied her and sat in corridors and cubicles while she was interrogated about her health conditions, her medications and her treatments. After a while, we could provide the information ourselves without bothering her at all because the same questions came up over and over again and the answers were recorded on paper by over worked medics. I remember thinking then that all of this should be available online.

For the past 4 years, we’ve been using the NHS app and the Patients Know Best website. It really came to the public during the Covid Pandemic. In a sense, the two, separate apps could be merged into one. Equally, our GP Surgery has adopted another online information base which is called SystmOnLine and offers very similar functions. We’ve been using all three from the start. We book appointments both with our GPs, our Pharmacy and our hospitals.

These are all early attempts to move our information from face-to-face to online and I applaud it. What has always been amusing is that we can look up our appointments and the results of our tests almost before the professionals have seen them. Unfortunately, the old NHS still feel the necessity to double up the information stream by sending paper copies through the post as well. This is clearly time consuming and expensive. Now, this forward thinking Labour Government are going to bring all these disparate sources of information together under one, digital app which will both store information but also monitor health – blood pressure, physical activity, weight, etc..

The work goes on to get fit and lose weight. Warm and grey on the promenade this morning. We didn’t get any of the forecast strong winds thank goodness because our fence won’t be fixed until tomorrow. Back home for coffee and Gym work. Got to keep striving. P&C + M flew out of Gatwick this morning Florida bound. Should be lovely and sunny for them all. They will be back for Christmas and I will still be keeping on keeping on. I’ve done 55 days alcohol-free and will have achieved almost 140 days by the end of the year.

Tuesday, 22nd October, 2024

Gorgeous morning. Slept well and up out of bed with energy. Looking forward to the day. Got lots to do. Take my housekeeper to her hairdresser’s. Hopefully, meet the Fenceman although he hasn’t confirmed a time. Do a beach walk and a Gym session.

As winter approaches, the Gym will come increasingly into its own. With all the rain this year I have used it a fair amount anyway. We set it up just over 4 years ago. Leaving David Lloyd Health Club was a bit of a wrench. We enjoyed meeting people and using the outdoor pool, sauna and jaccuzi but the pandemic made it essential. It was costing us about £2,000.00 per year but we used it every day so it was cost effective.

When we set up our own Gym, I spent about £5,000.00 on equipment and about £3,000.00 on converting the garage. So, over the past 4 years, we have about broken even. I don’t meet many people in my Gym, of course but I do get to choose when all the equipment is free. I get my own, 65″ tv to watch rather than one of those tiny built in screens on the equipment. I don’t have to drive there. I just amble across the garden garden and, if I get thirsty, I’ve got 400 bottles of red wine racked up behind me – not that I would dream of touching them. Well, dream ….

We had a service agreement built in to the price of our professional quality equipment which we bought from a wonderful company in Shoreham by Sea near here. Even so, little has gone wrong. These machines are built for work with multiple users throught a full Gym Club day so I’m not going to break them. Because of our ages, I bought a lumbar support bike from a different supplier so it would keep us fit into the future. It would cost about £800.00 to replace. Recently, the pedal straps needed replacing and I couldn’t get any.

The manufacturers said I had to buy a pack of replacement pedals which would come with straps – cost £100.00. Desperately, I bought them. This morning, I found generic ones on Ebay for just £8.60. What an idiot!

Wednesday, 23rd October, 2024

An overcast start to the day but very warm. We’ve got workers due to arrive this morning so we are tied to the house. I’ve got lots of jobs to do plus Gym work so it’s not a problem.

What is wrong with this place setting? Answers on a postcard. It is the most common setting for Supper in our house. A fish knife & fork, a pudding spoon & fork plus a wine glass and napkin. The cutlery is set out so one eats from out to in as convention teaches. Can you spot the element that makes this a sign of us being ‘common’?

The most usual evening meal for us is one of fish and vegetables. I use a fish knife and fish fork for that purpose. I learnt this from my upbringing. Actually, we only ate fish once a week – on a Friday because we were brought up as Catholics. Almost always, we ate Plaice smothered in parsley sauce with boiled potatoes and we ate them with our fish knife & fork.

I never eat plaice or parsley sauce now probably because of the past but I do use a fish knife and fish fork and this week I am told it makes me Common. Lady Glenconner, former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, declared that the offending cutlery item is a telltale sign of one dreadful thing: being middle class. And that, Dear Reader, is common. 

My Mum was a snob. I think she almost acknowledged that herself. She went to a snooty, Catholic High School/College where she felt she had to compensate for or whitewash out her Irish ancestry. She adopted signs, trappings of success to that end. I clearly inherited this trait. I am aware of it too. An article in The Telegraph this morning sparked by the current fish knife row, lists other things that indicate common, Middle Class traits:

• Using Liquid soap – not sure why but use encouraged by pandemic.
• Mounted televisions – Anything bigger than a 46in television is suspect especially massive 100in televisions. Even worse if it is wall-mounted. Class is a small, very old TV set indicating you’re not really interested in watching anything. 
• Prosecco in lieu of champagne – cheap alternative giveaway.
• Personalised number plates – considered provincial, vanity plates.
• Trainers – chavvy.

There are others on the list that I don’t do:

• Eating on the street – behaviour is American. When eating, you sit down at a table.
• Holding a knife like a pen – quite obviously vulgar.
• Applying make-up in public – desperate and vulgar.
• Hot Tubs – Must admit I can’t see the point in them.
  
  Of course, there is Common … and then there is Working Class isn’t there, Mum?

Thursday, 24th October, 2024

Gorgeous bright, sunny and warm morning. Hard to believe we are in our final week of October. Shopping, walking and Gym-ing day. Tomorrow we have workers in and we are out for Pauline’s eye test and new reading glasses. This is what living the High Life is like!

While Pauline is having her eyes tested and spending interminable hours searching for new frames which will suit her while reading her iPad, Kindle, Laptop, Ingredient containers, etc. because she always has to look her best, I am going to investigate SuperDrive Varifocals because it is time. I wear distance glasses for driving and reading glasses for … reading. is so much reading to do while driving now that it has become a real problem for me.

I paid £350.00 about 20 years ago for a pair of bi-focals but just couldn’t get on with them at all. Eventually, they went in a drawer and stayed there until I tidied them out. Technology has developed much more effective varifocal glasses and I am thinking of trying them again.

Currently, our new car has a number of speed settings – maximum speed, consistent with current traffic speed, speed set to road side speed limit sign, etc. This latter one is a new, European Directive. All new cars have to be fitted with a speed recognition/vehicle control system which dings to warn the driver of a speed sign and if the vehicle is going over that limit – rather like a seat belt warning noise. In our car, this information is projected upwards onto the windscreen just above the steering wheel. I am struggling to read it through distance glasses. I think varifocals could be the answer.

Delicious walk down the beach path this morning. Incredibly warm and sunny. So many people had been attracted by the weather that it was difficult to park. Plenty on the jetty soaking up the rays and signs of the beach being deposited on the promenade after high tides.

Down the length of the promenade, attracted by the lovely weather and the confluence of Half Term and Bonfire Night, contractors were busily installing fun fare installations on beachside and a huge bonfire on green side.

Friday, 25th October, 2024

Up early and lots to get through today. Early appointment at Specsavers in Rustington. Pauline is having her annual eye test. She only needs reading glasses but wants new ones … again. As I reported yesterday, I am thinking of retrying varifocals for driving after rejecting them some 20 years ago.

While Pauline was being checked, I spoke to a nice, young lady who found me the perfect frames for the new lenses and I agreed on the spot. I could deny her nothing even at £310.00. After all, it was cheaper than 20 years ago. Eventually, Pauline emerged to look for new reading glasses – two pairs = £220.00. Cheap at half the price!

As we were near to the beach, we took the opportunity to do a walk. It was lovely and warm but grey and gloomy. What a difference a day makes. Quite a few children around with their parents and grandparents as if they were on early Half Term. I kept wanting to challenge them: Why are you out of school? but I was restrained by my Minder.

You may know that I am on a restricted calorie intake. Alcohol and refined carbohydrates are forbidden. No wine, no bread, cakes, biscuits, potatoes, pasta, rice, etc.. I am allying this to increased activity on the basic calories in versus calories out theory. It is working well. I am half way through my 59th day of a 300 day stint. My intention is to be at my target by the end of May. When I say I will do something, I will do it. Putting it down on the Blog just makes that committment even more unswervable. Everywhere you look are seasonal temptations. I am strengthening my resolve.

Saturday, 26th October, 2024

In retrospect as I’ve written before, I so wish I had done a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) degree. I did politics and philosophy but not economics and I find that discipline absolutely gripping now. I enjoy the theory of economics and the practice of it as it impinges on my life. I love researching National Economic policy. I’m really looking forward to the Budget – the first Labour Budget for 15 years. I love researching investment opportunities, forward projecting them and deciding how to proceed.

I am 73 so I can’t afford to think too long term with my investments. I have no children and so no one to leave my money to. When investing, I only think in terms of insulating my wife’s life when I’m gone. She has good pensions of her own but a widowed life can be cold and expensive so she will need a large insurance pot to draw on. We can never rely on the State to provide that.

Ten years ago this week, we were back in UK after selling our Greek home. I was negotiating Banks’ money-laundering checks in order to put the proceeds into UK investment vehicles. It wasn’t as straightforward as you’d think. It was a bit tense but I found it exciting. I had prepared the ground before leaving Greece and, ten years ago next week, we were preparing to return to Athens to transfer the rest and close National Bank of Greece and Alpha Bank accounts.

A decade on, those investments have done well although the early years were in a climate of low inflation & low interest rates. More recently, interest rates have been (relatively) so high that tax has become a big issue and the need to shelter profits has become imperative. Fortunately, I chose fixed rate Bonds and fixed rate ISAs when interest rates were 6.1% and 5.5% respectively – so well above the current BoE interest base rate. Now inflation has fallen to 1.7%, those fixes look very healthy. Having moved out of ISAs in the last 20 years, I have been forced to move back in to get tax-free earnings. At least I have another 18 months of real earnings of around 4%+ above inflation tax free.

Sunday, 13th October, 2024

A cool, grey day. Went down to the beach but it was packed with walkers and there was nowhere to park so we came back and did our old walk round the local park today. It was quite nice to see it again. Haven’t been down there since last year.

Actually, it’s been a morning of revisiting. Thinking about the North of England – Lancashire & Yorkshire this morning. I was looking for a photo of my old village of Helme to show JohnR when up popped a house sale. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147755765#

It was bought by my doctor. I had gone to see him about my bad back but all he wanted to talk about was viewing my house. He has obviously retired and wants to downsize now. It brings back so many memories both happy and sad – so many good times and some absolutely terrible ones. We lived in it for almost 20 years while working.

I was really pleased to see that they had kept this door and used it at the entrance to the Laundry Room. It came from my Office as Headteacher back in the 1990s. Solid mahogany, it was installed in the school, which was ultimately raised to the ground, in 1885. It was the original door.

It is this sort of coincidence that really pleases me. The circularity of experience. I need to revisit and retouch the past. It is so rewarding.

Monday, 14th October, 2024

Woken up to rain. Not very inviting! Why does it always rain on Bins Day? Not only do I cut all the grass for my neighbours but I put their bins back because the are out at work. My lovely Bavarian-Australian English Lecturer next door sent me this at the weekend.

Actually, the rain will stop around 9.00 am and the week is going back to …. Summer. It will be around 22C/70F by mid week according to the Met. Office. Still in shorts and tee shirt. Still no quilt on the bed. Still no central heating. Apparently, the day Brits most commonly start using the central heating is 2 weeks away – October 27th. We will see.

Yesterday, I featured the sale of our old house in Yorkshire. We bought it as much for the land as for the house. It was set in about an acre of conservation land. It had neighbours but so far away that it was easier to phone them than speak across the hedge. We wanted to stretch ourselves to our maximum budget – invest to accumulate – with a view to it providing a springboard to bigger properties. In the event, I loved it and we stayed for 16 years only selling it to help us finance our Greek build.

Now in retirement in the South, we live with much closer neighbours. We didn’t spend all our money on a house. We actively chose this. In older age, we need cash in the bank and people nearer to us. We moved to a village. Normally, I abhor villages having grown up in and run away from one but this is the South. Villages are not remaining such for very long.

Of course the older residents are up in arms about that. Isn’t it strange. Old age seems to make us more reluctant to change and accept change around us. I always knew I was odd. Change excites me more the older I get. There is so little life to live and so much to cram into it. Think of all the innovations to come that we 70 yr olds will never see. Will I live to see flying cars, drone deliveries, Universal Incomes, Free Essential Services of Power, Water, Communications, Healthy Life Expectancy of 150? Perhaps not but …. I will try. Got to keep the plates spinning.

Tuesday, 15th October, 2024

Driving up to Surrey this morning on this mild Tuesday morning to visit relatives. My online calendar informs me that it would be my Dad’s birthday. Today he would have been 109. He actually died of a heart attack at the age of 49. What a waste!

Dad was Eric Richard Sanders and Granddad was Richard Watthew Sanders. I am John Richard Sanders. All three of us were pupils at Burton on trent Grammar School. These photos are of Dad in his final years there.

Like me, he was a Rugby player. I’m not sure about my grandfather but Dad was a good player and I think had England schoolboy trials according to legend.

Dad died as a relatively young man. The only upside to that is the fact that he never had to worry about coping with old age. We have been out today up in Surrey accompanying relatives in their late 80s considering buying in to a new Retirement Village Development. It would provide so many services to assist and enrich their final years. Wrap around care includes all in-house needs like Cleaning and Laundry, a Restaurant and a Supermarket plus many other in-house shops. There is a Gym, Exercise Class Room, Indoor Swimming Pool, Hobbies Room for things like Pottery and Art.

It provides Emergency Medical Services, Concierge Services and the community of a large number of similar aged residents. Of course it is not cheap both because of the rich provision of the lifestyle and because it is in the centre of one of the most expensive places one can choose to live in UK.

One of the things all this definitely emphasises is the dilemma of the final years. It starkly sets out that you need to build up a serious nestegg of reserves to soften the difficult end of life decisions. It is all very well living for the moment but there will come a moment when you will wish you hadn’t.

My big take away from today was when I told the Sales Office lady how impressed I was with the properties. She turned and said without a pause:

I’m sorry, Sir, you have to be over 65 to buy here.

I will take compliments like that all day long especially from girls. Checked the mirror as I walked out.

Wednesday, 16th October, 2024

A warm and depressingly grey day. The world is wearing a helmet of darkness this morning. It is soft but depressingly heavy and unwelcoming.

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

T.S. Eliot – The Hollow Men

What will become of us? Our trip out yesterday left more questions than answers. Age is the one thing we cannot run away from. I was confronted by my Future, your Future, Dear Reader, all our Futures. There will come a time and there will come a time ….. when we all have the same dilemma on the path to becoming Hollow Men. How do we cope with age and infirmity …. alone? How do we store up enough cash to prepare for that eventuality without making our last years joyless?

I have always tried to get the balance right and to make enjoyment inform prudence. Building a house in Greece meant making some sacrifices. We sold our large, Yorkshire home and moved to a cheaper house to help fund the building. I borrowed money against my house to provide additional funding for the building. However, ultimately selling the Greek house allowed me to move to the much more expensive South of England and keep investments for the grey skies of Old Age.

Got to give the car its first clean today. Rain over night brough a shower of Saharan Dust which has dried patchily on the pristine paintwork. It is one of the problems with choosing gloss black. I knew I would have to clean it more regularly.

Thursday, 17th October, 2024

Lovely, warm and bright morning promising a wonderful day. It will be great for walking later. Jobs to do first. It was a warm night for the latter half of October – 16C/61F – and the shorts and tee shirt go on.

I belong to a Whatsapp group of former male students who talk mainly nonsense in the attempt to maintain relationaships over distance and time. People post things all day from all over the country and others pick up on things that interest or amuse them. It is a virtual society. This morning a lad in Knaresborough posted this old football chart and it struck a chord with me.

I am a citizen of Nowhere. I began my life as a Rams supporter. One of my first girlfriends was Peter Taylor’s daughter – the daughter of Brian Clough’s assistant. (Free tickets).
I moved on to support Latics when I started teaching and flirted with the idea of supporting Town when I moved house. As Latics and Town faded, I moved on to support United. After emigrating to Surrey, I supported the Pensioners for a while but now, down here on the South Coast, I am trying to get into the Shrimps who are actually known as the Seagulls. In Greece, I supported Panathinaikos which literally means ‘All across Athens’. Its nickname is πράσινος prásinos, which means “The Greens”.

It was a delightful day yesterday which, I must admit was pleasing after such a poor start. Lots of people reacted to my video clips of the sea on our walk in the morning. You are lucky to live by the sea, they say and we know. We feel lucky. It gives us a constant source of interest. People regularly say that it feels as if they are on holiday when they are here. Of course, I never consider I am on holiday even when I’m on holiday. I just move my life to a different location.

The same prepossessions, routines, interests are involved wherever I am in the country or the world. I still walk, Blog, photograph, enjoy good food, meet interesting people, enjoy language, see interesting sights. These things accompany me wherever I go and now, with all the instruments of the internet at my disposal, I still take my friends, relatives and associates with me too and I talk to them, share with them and learn from them.

Yesterday afternoon, I was talking to a lad who I shared a flat with for a year in 1971. He was admiring my video clip of the waves and saying how he was obsessed with the sea as well. Tolley used to have a house in France but like so many of our age has sold up and retreated to his home in England with his grandchildren. Like many of the group I was involved with, he is an artist. He still paints and he loves to paint the sea. He shared this picture with me from his landlocked home in Leeds.

Friday, 18th October, 2024

Absolutely gorgeous day after the most wonderful night. As I went to bed around 11.30 pm, the garden was in full moonlight and it remained all night. When I got up around 6.30 am, the sky was still illuminated by the moon. Soon after, the blue sky chased the moon away as the sun rose over the horizon. It is relatively warm for this time of year and grass is still growing.

We are having some work done in the garden today so exercise will be in the Gym. It is a day of Remembrance which we would normally mark in Oldham but medical events have delayed us this year. On this day 14 years ago, we were living in a Supported Old Age living accomodation because my Mother-in-Law was unwell and needed lots of support. On this day 14 years ago, she was still in hospital after an incredible operation for a 96 yr old the day before and we were woken at 5.30 am by a phone call that we both instictively knew was not good news.

We dashed to the hospital where my lovely Mother-in-Law died shortly afterwards – 14 years ago today. Can hardly believe the passage of time. We will visit soon to mark the occasion.

We just hope that we can match her resilience having been born in to poverty and hardship. She worked incredibly hard to bring up her family doing fairly menial jobs. She was widowed very young and spent a large chunk of her life as a widow always remaining cheerful. From that basis, her life to 96 was one of triumph over adversity.

The Office for National Statistics recent report into Life Expectancy finds that, of the 10 local areas with the lowest life expectancy, none were in the south of England and Oldham was up there. Just as examples, life expectancy in Hampshire for women is 86 years whereas in Greater Manchester it is 79 years. It might not sound a lot but, when you get there, 7 more years will seem like a lifetime.

I was looking for restaurants in Manchester which we can try when we visit. Today, a newish Greek (Mykonos) Taverna was reviewed in the MEN. Fenix Manchester sounds like a possibility.

Saturday, 19th October, 2024

Unbelievably lovely day yesterday of hot sunshine. We were marooned at home waiting for a Fenceman …. who didn’t turn up. He texted to say that his workers had cut a power line on another job and he was needed there to sort it out. So, for the second time, he was a no show. He will now come on Tuesday, hopefully. Ironically, the sunshine outside was not reflected on the inside for me. I’ve been feeling rather sad and empty for a few days – a bit listless. Must get a grip!

I received a video and photos from one of my former pupils who should have gone to University but wasn’t allowed to originally. Since leaving school, she married, had two kids, started a counselling course, started a counselling business in the Asian community and finally completed the B.A. degree she should have done through Oldham College affiliated to Sheffield University. The graduates processed through the streets of Oldham yesterday in the sunshine and led by a jazz band. Lovely to see but a frightening reminder of 20 years ago.

Fortunately, today is another good day. Very warm and sunny with white, fleecy clouds. Walking by the sea along the Littlehampton Promenade the air was warm and enjoyable. With the sounds of the waves, the shrieking of the gulls, yapping of the dogs and children excitedly whooping to each other. Apart from that, it is a quiet walk which feels like it is doing us good because of the strong smell of sea air and the sun on our skin.

On the right of this photo, you can see the fencing that has gone up to protect the public from the development work which has started. Arun Council has got a £7.2 million regeneration grant to develop the beachside. It will have new toilets and beach showers, new car park EV charging points, new food shops and a waterpark for kids. It’s called Levelling Up.

Really finding my Gym work hard at the moment. I’ve upped my target but I’m not eating enough to fuel the energy to do my routine so I’m having to fight it constantly. I know that is the idea. Less in and more out but I am really struggling with it. Fortunately, I’ve been enjoying a really well written legal/police investigation drama series called Showtrial on BBC iPlayer. It is two series each of five episodes and well worth 10 hrs of your time on the treadmill.

Sunday, 6th October, 2024

Well, I am shocked but the meal I cooked was a success. Even I enjoyed it – the cooking and the eating – although I have put 2lbs on this morning so got to do a lot of work to get the downward trend restarted.

Set off early for a walk along the promenade under grey skies with a chilly wind off the sea. I was in shorts and tee shirt but the majority of walkers were in Winter clothes. The temperature was 16C/61F but the edge on the breeze made it feel cooler. It was perfect for Kite Surfers but they were in wetsuits. Walking keeps we hardy types warm. After all, this is like mid Summer in Oldham.

I wrote the other day that it never rains but it pours. This morning, we discovered that we have a leak from the wash hand basin in one of the bathrooms. Nothing terrible but enough to need to turn off the cold water feed to that basin and to get a plumber next week. The same one happened a couple of years ago. It looks like our hard water may be the cause. Anyway, this coming week, we have a Fence man coming and now a Plumber will have to come as well.

As we move towards the darker days of Winter, thoughts turn to sunnier, warmer places. Apart from a trip to the North of England, we have already fixed two trips to North & South Greece in June and August 2025. Looking at 6 weeks June-July to do a European driving trip either down the West side of France to Bordeaux and then the South of France or taking a ferry Portsmouth to Bilbao and driving across Spain through Zaragoza to Murcia. Either way, I would look to rent a villa for a month.

I favour Spain for a change but Portsmouth – Bilbao/Santander is a 36 hr ferry journey which rather puts me off. France is a nice drive but most of which we’ve done before so it could be a bit repetetive.

The ferry takes 36 hours one way so we would need a good cabin. The cost for 2 passengers with a good, ensuite cabin is £900.00 return so that has to be factored in. Nice dilemma to have though and some cool nights to research and decide in.

Amazingly warm here tonight under cloudy skies. Rain has begun to fall lightly as I watch Brighton destroy Spurs just down the road – 10 miles – from our house. Until yesterday, we had expected a wet week to come but it appears to have veered off to the North – where it belongs – and our week of walking will not be too disturbed.

Monday, 7th October, 2024

Very warm night but woken at 5.00 am by heavy and torrential rain. It didn’t last long and is now moving North so it is safe to go out on a walk. I seem to be constantly walking whereas, in the past, I was running. I was reminded of this by a story in the MEN this morning.

I lived there until 45 years ago and could be seen at 5.00 am running like an idiot around the streets in my purple tracksuit with bright yelleow stripes down the leg trying to keep the fitness up and weight down. It was a dreadful place with poverty threaded through it. I had never seen anything like it before. Street after street of Victorian, Terraced, red brick houses, Corner Shops, Pubs, Fish & Chip shops and Hairdressers. Everything was old and grubby. But this was the catchment area of the school where I was teaching.

What there was in these streets was a sense of community, of all in the same poverty, of all struggling to survive. But life has to go on and you can’t live on community spirit alone. New homes built to modern standards were desperately needed. The LEA bought up most of the old house and demollished them. Streets of new houses have been built but then … they ran out of money and, for some areas, time has stood still as Nature reclaimed them. There are now plans to restart the regeneration plan but it has taken so many years. I see it, of course, in my mind’s eye still 50 years back in all its poverty. Nothing can erase that.

Still exercising but rather walking than running now. Got to protect my knees and hips now. I’ve thrown the purple tracksuit away. Lovely on the beach promenade this morning, warm and quiet. A bit of sun but wondeful, fresh air. Still in shorts and tee shirt. I’ll be sorry when it turns too cold for that. I noticed this morning that we have a talking telescope looking out to sea. I don’t know what it says because I never carry money and it wouldn’t accept phone payment.

Just done a post-sale review of our Honda Dealership which they sent me. It is all good. execellent, in fact. It is our 15th new CRV which speaks for itself. We always pay cash for new cars, and for the last 20 years they have come with 5 years ‘free’ servicing not that we ever keep them that long. It also comes with 5 years UK & European Breakdown cover, not that we’ve ever broken down but it is good to know and adds to the resale value. Recently, these last two benefits have come on the condition that we use Honda Finance in the purchase of the car. On this occasion, we had to include £1500.00 of Honda Finance loan but were told it could be paid off in full after 2 weeks of signing for the loan and no charges would be made. We will pay it off this week but still have no idea what Honda get out of this process at all.

We spent the weekend trying to decide which plumber to choose to deal with our leak in the bathroom. Having asked around, scrolled through umpteen local sites and recommendations we finally picked a name.

Phoning him on his mobile this morning, he said he would be happy to come round and help but it would have to be be tomorrow. He was speaking from Milan and flying back tonight. Sounds like our kind of plumber. We love Milan having stayed there and driven through there many times. A long way from Derker in Oldham that’s for sure.

Tuesday, 8th October, 2024

Heavy rain and a flash of ligtning last night but very warm. Gorgeous morning of blue sky and sunshine. Out early to take Pauline for a cholesterol test. She’ll sail through it as she does all medicals. After all, she’s been controlling her diet tightly for the past two months to make sure she does. Actually, we have both been very disciplined for the past 7 weeks now. Orange Juice for Breakfast. Home made Museli mid morning. One main meal of Fish & Salad/Vegetables each evening. We have allied that to an exercise regime and no alcohol. It is working. The fitness levels are going up and the weight is coming down. My INR is also coming down for the first time for years.

The strange thing about it is the process has become enjoyable. I have stopped feeling hungry. If I do feel hungry, I eat fruit – figs & melon. I don’t think about wine at all and I can’t sit still for long without feeling uncomfortable. I intend this to go on until the end of May – 8 months. Maybe then it will be a fixture.

Out for a walk by the sea now. Just an hour or so in lovely sunshine and really no breeze makes it feel warm and enjoyable.

This morning at 5.30 am, I was listening to an article about weather and seasons which was saying that the early signs of Autumn had been completely stopped in their tracks and the trees were now still rich green with barely any signs of turning colour or falling. It is true. This warmer Autumn has been lovely and only the Chestnut trees are turning. Outside our houses, we have Linden Trees which are largely remaining unaffected at the moment.

While we were walking, the plumber phoned to say he was back from Milan and would be round this afternoon to look at our jobs. Sounds a really nice, bright man. So far so good.

Wednesday, 9th October, 2024

We are in a nice pattern. It rains heavily over night and then goes warm and sunny during the daytime. And so it was last night. This morning is already shaping up in preparation for our walk. We have some lovely, sunny days in prospect over the weekend. Talking to my friend, Kevin, yesterday. He suffers from SAD syndrome brought on by the darkness of Winter which isn’t helped by living in Yorkshire. He should have been on my walk this morning. Also talked to my old friend, Brian in Royton, to catch up and arrange to go and see him. Lovely to catch up.

The Plumber we chose arrived on time yesterday. He was about 6′ 6″ tall and ex-army. He is from Chester originally but we’re not holding that against him. He will come tomorrow to do the leak plus three other small jobs. The electrician has phoned this morning to say he will come tomorrow afternoon to move the electrics on the Fence post in the garden that has to be strengthened and the Fence man is coming on Friday. By the weekend, everything should have been sorted out.

Out on our walk, the air was warmed by intermittent sunshine without breeze. You’d have liked it, Dear Reader. The Arun River inlet/outlet was low but an armada of small boats were slowly drifting towards the Marina.

Thursday, 10th October, 2024

Do I seem weather-obsessed to you, Dear Reader? Perhaps I am. I am obsessed with lots of things. It rained over night again and everywhere is soggy this morning. Our lovely, friendly Electrician, Darryl arrived at 9.30 to move some of the lighting installation on the garden fence in readiness for the Fencing Installer coming on Friday to look at stregthening a post which has obviously rotted over the past 8 years.

The post cannot be strengthened too soon before the winter winds. In fact, I panicked this morning when I looked at our local weather on the BBC site and saw the above forecast. Look at the wind speeds on the bottom. That’s enough to blow a house away never mind a fence. An hour later, a tickertape on Sky News said there was a glitch on the BBC weather site and the computer had thrown up erroneous figures. Phew!

It even looks as if our Florida property has survived the worst of the storm … so far. Phew! Phew!!

I’ve written before of my ability to get people’s life story out of them within minutes. I don’t think I look like a priest in a confessional but Darryl was only her 15 minutes and, in that time, he volunteered that his Mum had been battered by his Dad. His Mum died of cancer when he was 14. His Nan had looked after him. His Dad was a racist who moved a black woman in to live with him and threw out his Nan and him. He hadn’t seen his Dad since – and Darryl is now 50 – until they met at a funeral and he didn’t recognise him. Darryl now composes music in his spare time and his two daughters are musicians. What a lovely lad and that’s just a bit of what I learned.

The Plumber is with us now. A 6’6″ Cestrian, who is articulate and efficient, he has come to do a group of 4 jobs including repairing a leak and replacing a swan-neck tap in the Utility Room. I am trying to find a Spanish rental property. We want it for about a month from the end of June on the coast between Aguilas and Mazarron. We are looking for a property with a pool, outside eating and cooking, dishwasher and washing machine, somewhere to park the car and, most importantly, good Wi-Fi. We are looking around the £5,000.00 for 28 days price range although we will pay more for a perfect property.

The problem is that so many have all the requirements but are tired, dark and old inside. Really having to be ruthless in the search.

Friday, 11th October, 2024

Nice sky over Angmering village last night although I suspect Northerners had a better display.

Gorgeous morning to open the day. We’ve got the Fence Man coming and then I’ve got lawn mowing to do. can’t let the neighbours down!

I have a Oncology Review coming in early December. Before that, I have to have a CT Scan and some blood tests. So I am going back in the imaging tunnel. This morning I had to fix those dates so they don’t clash. The hospital were fantastic. What lovely people. The scan has been set for when I requested – November 4th. All the fireworks come afterwards. Apparently, I will have a ‘free’ whole body scan annually at a cost in the Private Sector of circa £1000.00. I feel incredibly lucky. I was listening to an actor talking about his throat cancer. When asked what his advice would be to others, his first response was, Don’t get cancer. but then he went on to advise, Seek regular and often scans of every part of your body to find things early. I couldn’t disagree with that.

Last night I was talking to our Yorkshire hotel about our stay as well as planning trips for next year. I am only able to do this because my cancer was caught early enough and hadn’t metastasised. Well, in theory anyway. The scan may tell a different story.

Saturday, 12th October, 2024

A grey, overcast morning. Quite mild and dry but not very inviting. Annoyingly, we stayed at home but our Fence man didn’t turn up and didn’t contact us in spite of us phoning and texting him. Today has become Sainsburys day instead.

Each morning with my freshly squeezed orange juice I take a statin pill, a warfain pill and another small, white one. I’ve been doing it for years. I don’t really take much notice. My resident Pharmacist organises it all. This morning she removed the small, white pill from my month’s worth of pill organisers.

Like all Pharmacists, she is Health Advice mad. I have been fed suplements for decades. For many years, they have included Vitamin D tablets. I have no idea why and I don’t usually ask. I just take my allocation like all good patients. Today, the small, white, Vitamin D pill had disappeared.

It seems that my resident Pharmacist is keeping up with trends. Vitamin D was originally said to boost immunity and help calcium support bone structure – she tells me. Now, the Zoe Nutritionists are saying that people like us who get plenty of sunshine and eat a healthy diet don’t need Vitamin D and, in fact, it can be actually harmful.

Too much vitamin D in the system leads to a buildup of calcium in your blood (hypercalcemia), which can cause nausea and vomiting, weakness, and frequent urination. Vitamin D toxicity might progress to bone pain and kidney problems, such as the formation of calcium stones. To be fair to my Pharmacist, she was concerned that I was immuno-compromised by my radiotherapy. Anyway, I’ve now got one less pill to swallow in the mornings.

Being old, for me, is like being a plate-spinner. I feel like I’m constantly checking recording, working to maintain/improve my data: my blood pressure, INR, cholesterol, eyesight, weight, fitness, etc.. My readings are good at the moment and most of them are unaided by drugs but controlled through diet. I haven’t drunk alcohol for 45 days and really haven’t missed it. I have really controlled my food intake to one, light meal per day. The weight is falling off and my fitness level is now rapidly coming back.

I do worry about taking any drugs really. I would rather not. Warfarin is a blood thinner. It should help save me from strokes and heart attacks. I’ve been taking it for over 15 years. Of course, it is better known as rat poison because in huge quantities it is fed to rats through bait. They ingest it and, ultimately, explode as their hearts and veins burst. My Pharmicist has an easy option there if she wanted to get rid of me but, of course, I’m too lovable.

It is early afternoon. The sky is blue. The sun is bright. There is no football on TV. Going out to the beach for a long walk. Looking forward to it.

Gorgeous walk but with people out and about this afternoon. I’m getting so much quicker at covering the return journey of my fixed course. Definitely fitter. Cut 10 minutes off the hour walk today.

Sunday, 29th September, 2024

The Eight Hundreth and Twenty Third week of this online Diary begins as the last few days of September 2024 end under grey skies. It is dry and warm but not promising. The Day begins and ends with Data. All sorts of Data. It appeals to me. Vital statistics are important.

The morning starts with shaving. I monitor it on my smartphone app which tells me how well I’ve done. Last week I managed 95% performance so that is my target to beat this week. Step on the scales. They are really going well in the right direction. I am delighted by my efforts. I have lost 40% of my target and I intend to continue until June next year. Low food intake. No alcohol (33 days now) and increasing exercise. It is beginning to feel less painful and more enjoyable. I have a spreadsheet to record all these things.

First thing after Breakfast is to go down to the Beach for a walk. It is warm but there is a strong breeze off the sea. Lots of walkers are dressed in coats. I get some surprised looks as I stride down the promenade in tee shirt and shorts. Actually, it was lovely if invigorating.

The new car will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. One of the joys of a new car is learning all the new elements of its functions. I’ve been reviewing them in advance and I’ve actually learnt something about my existing car that I haven’t known for two years. I am a little embarrassed about it. Always wondered what those three little lines were on the door handles.

Our last two cars have had keyless entry. As long as the key is in my pocket, the doors open as soon as I touch them. The boot opens as soon as I swing my foot underneath so I can open it while holding bags of shopping. Reading about the new car, I find that those three little lines on the door handles are where the car can be locked remotely by just placing my finger on them as long as the key is in my pocket …. and not in the car. In the new car it is possible to remotely heat the car, start the car and open all the windows and doors with one click.

Today is clearing out the interior – Sunglasses, Driving Glasses, Reading Glasses, Spare Change for meters, Tissues, Shopping Bags, etc.. I’ve also got to clear the Destinations from the sat.nav. which includes our Home address and lots of other personal details, phone numbers, addresses, etc. I do this every couple of years and every time I have to feel my way back through it. Anyway, now done. Jobs cleared in time for Man.Utd. v Spurs.

Back on the scales before bed. And off to dream of many things but, particularly, being thin.

Monday, 30th September, 2024

Out with the old. Enjoy the last day of September, 2024, Dear Reader. It’s been raining here for 12 hours solid. Standing water everywhere. Reminds me of that famous quote from an early 20th century American humourist when he visited Venice in the 1930s. He sent a telegram to his agent saying:

Just arrived in Venice.
Find all streets flooded.
Please advise.Robert Benchley

Exercise will be in the Gym today. But first Breakfast. Every day the same for me. Entirely liquid. Two oranges freshly squeezed by Chef. Each year, I consume 730 large oranges each year. They mainly come from Spain and Florida but, recently, they are from South Africa and are not particularly wonderful in sweetness or juice content.

There was an interesting article in the The Sunday Times yesterday that quoted the company who sell Tropicana. The justify price rises by saying that the price of oranges had risen by 400% over the past two years because the biggest source of oranges was Florida and the USA has suffered a catastrophic citrus blight which had massively reduced the crop.

I was reminded of the problem we had in Greece. After a few years of our lemon trees fruiting well, suddenly the leaves started turning black as if covered in soot and very little blossom was followed by very few fruit. When we asked islanders, we were told that this aphid blight was covering the island. We were advised to spray the trees each Autumn but it still hadn’t cleared up before we sold. A fellow Englishman with a house on Corfu has been reporting the same problems since then ….. until this Spring when his trees are fruiting heavily again.

The new car will be delivered in mid-afternoon. I was reminded of something else which is featured on the existing and new models which I never take advantage of. Paddles behind the steering wheel which can be used for graduated deceleration. Using the deceleration paddle selector situated on the steering wheel, you can sequentially shift through four stages of deceleration but, why would you want to? I let the car largely drive itself by setting Adaptive Cruise Control which drives for me according the traffic around.

The new model takes driving lights one step forward by providing Active Cornering Lights which turn the headlights from straight ahead to round the corner as you turn the wheel and Adaptive Beam Control which automatically switches fromfull to dipped and back according to approaching traffic. The new model also features the long overdue Headlight Auto Turn Off which takes care of that job instead of just giving a warning sound when you get out of the car.

The new car has come with so many changes and a 350 page handbo0k that I will be up all night preparing to drive it tomorrow. What fun!

Tuesday, 1st October, 2024

Welcome to October 2024, Dear Reader. Let’s hope it will be good for us all. Happy meetings, revisitings, reconcilliations. New beginnings. More than anything else, I expect to enter December a whole lot lighter and fitter.

Nice morning to go out in my new car for a walk by the sea. I’m getting to grips with the new controls. I must admit, I’ve already given up with the huge Owners’ Guide and I’ve been watching video clips on YouTube. They are much more accessible and informative.

I’ve already sorted out the reversing camera’s guidelines and the Adaptive Cruise Control. Our smartphones have been linked and Android Auto is set up for use. Going out now to put the instructions into action.

Before I do, I’ve had real fun learning how to use the app on my smartphone to control the car remotely. It will lock and unlock the doors, open and close each window separately along with the sunroof. It will prestart the heating, screen de-icing, tell me how many miles I’ve got in the tank, how many miles I have on the clock, and set my sat nav up for my coming journey. It has a perfectly good sat. nav. but I am enjoying putting Google Maps through it instead. It allows me to park, set my location and it will guide me back to my car later.

It allows me to set a geo-fence security perimiter beyond which I will be immediately alerted. So, if someone moved it/stole it, the car would not only alert me but would track where they had taken it. The car is permanently linked to Honda Assist all over UK and throughout Europe so they can help me through any problems. Often, they will know I have a problem before I do but, if in the unlikely chance I have a breakdown, my car will call for assistance wherever I am.

Absolutely lovely and warm down at the beach. People much older than me were swimming and wind surfing as the tide rolled in. Did a good walk and then drove home to laugh at the Conservatives in their Party Conference in Birmingham. They haven’t learnt a single thing from their recent demolition.

Wednesday, 2nd October, 2024

Warm but rather overcast today. Up early to get my walk done before it rains. Last night, it was forecast for mid day today. Over Breakfast, I noticed all talk of rain had gone. Unfortunately, it never rains but it pours and with strong winds forecast for later next week, we’ve found that one of our fence posts is rotten at the base. Sounds trivial but it impacts on our neighbours and on the electrics installed on our side.

The fence man can’t come until next week and our electrician has said he will move the electrics before the strengthener is installed. I could do without it but Life constantly gets in the way, doesn’t it Dear Reader.

Lovely walk in warm air by the sea. Been there every day for just over a month now. It is followed by a Gym session and it is working. I am definitely feeling fitter and the weight is falling away faster than I expected.

For the last 5 years, I have been contributing to a Health Study led by Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London. It began with Covid but has spread over time to general health.

I don’t go mad about it but I do follow recommendations generally and I do contribute my own data every morning via my smartphone as I drink my fresh orange juice and freshly ground coffee. Pleased to see this report in the Daily Telegraph this morning. My wife drinks nothing but water. Can you imagine that? Hot (90F) water for breakfast and cold water with Supper. Nightmare!

Thursday, 3rd October, 2024

Glorious morning of warm sunshine and blue skies. Unfortunately, it is shopping morning and I am driving to 6 different shops. At least it gives me more time to learn about the new car and get to know its facilities.

There is plenty just on the Infotainment screen to get my teeth into but just simple things like the bonnet no longer relies on one of those flimsy iron support rods anymore. It goes up slickly on side hinges. Lovely.

First this morning to Sainsburys and then Aldi and Tesco. Each one has specific items that my Housekeeper finds superior to others. On to Next to collect more clothes orders and, finally, down to the Fish supplier by the beach for more things to put in the freezer. Each time I stop, I enter destinations into the sat.nav. Happiness.

THe big highlight of the day is a trip to our surgery for a combined Flu/Covid vaccine. All but one of our vaccines have been Moderna and this combined one will be the same. It will be interesting how we react to it. Last time I ached a bit and felt a bit more lethargic for a couple of days. Pauline had quite an extreme reaction with heart flutter for a couple of days and raised blood pressure for some weeks afterwards. She is justifiably rather nervous this time and has been taking and recording her blood pressure for a few days to compare with readings after the event.

Friday, 4th October, 2024

Little cooler over night but a gorgeous morning. Down at the beach in the sunshine, the council were delivering and installing new beach huts – basically, they are colourful sheds with no water or electricity or furnishings. They are garden sheds painted bright colours.

The council then sell them off like Council Houses. I don’t know how much you’d pay for a shed on the beach but they are currently selling for £29,000.00. I can’t imagine who pays it but you do see some old Brexit voters, stuck in the 1950s, with their teapot, tea cosy and chintzy cups on tea trays, sitting on deckchairs proudly outside their beach shed.

In the 1950s, my family would go to the East Coast – upmarket Sutton-on-Sea not chavvy Mablethorpe – and rent a house for a fortnight along with a Beach Chalet as it had to be called in middle class speak. Not a shed. In there we would shelter from the rain, eat our picnic sandwiches, chage for swimming – if we could face it – and dry off out of the biting East Coast wind. A small, Calor-Gaz ring would boil water for hot tea to revive the feeling in our fingers numbed by the icy, British weather. It would also store our Deck Chairs and Windbreak – the essentials of a gritty holiday.

Through others we understand ourselves. These three reprobates were contemporaries of mine at Training College 1969 – 72. I always wonder what their lives have been like over the past 50+ years. It excites, fascintes and frightens me.

Got to force myself into the Gym now because, as usual, I am feeling a little lethargy in response to yesterday’s jabs. They had to be done but the Covid one always makes me tired and the Flu one gives me a sore throat. It’s a price worth paying but I don’t look forward to it. However, I am so pleased with my fitness gain and my weight loss that I will keep fighting on. No cause is ever truly lost, is it Dear Reader …. until we’re dead ….. and that’s a long way off.

Saturday, 5th October, 2024

Gorgeous morning for a walk and for a birthday. Out early and down to the beach where the world was beginning to stir with dog walking and fun running, children screaming as they ran in and out of the enveloping waves of the incoming tide and the physically challenged just sitting in the warmth of the sunshine.

There is a little edge to the breeze off the sea and definitely a sense of Autumn. Today is Pauline’s birthday so I am on duty. It is tradition that I take her official birthday photograph and so I did this morning. I think one would be hard pushed to say she was 73. She is known as Peter Pan among her friends. She doesn’t weigh much more than she did when we got married and she really hasn’t got many signs of aging. Her hair isn’t going grey and although she wouldn’t agree, she has very few wrinkles. Her Mum lived to 96 and there seems a very good chance she will emulate her.

I am cooking Supper today. If all goes well, I will be serving:

King Praws served on a bed of Endive Leaves with Aioli

Honey & Dijon Mustard glazed Roast Salmon
Roast Cherry Tomatoes, Shallots and Chanterelle Mushrooms

Roasted Figs with Honey & Yoghurt

I am a little nervous about getting it right … particularly because I want to watch the football.

Some clever little innovations are still revealing themselves in the new car. Today, I realised that the windscreen washer doesnt spray up from nozzles on the bonnett. It is delivered straight out of the windscreen wipers meaning less is needed.

When you press the car’s brake pedal and come to a stop, the (electronic) handbrake is automatically applied and released as soon as you depress the accelerator. In the previous car, we had to deliberately choose it by pressing a button. Simple improvement but makes such sense.