Sunday, 18th October, 2026
Gorgeous morning but, unfortunately, Pauline has been booked for an Endoscopy first thing tomorrow morning. We should be in Oldham marking the anniversary of her Mum’s death 16 years ago now which signalled our move away from the North of England.
She was the most lovely lady and she is always in my memory even if we can’t acknowledge her memory properly this month. She is permanently on my Office wall looking down on my efforts kindly and we will get up there soon to pay our respects to her memory.
My Mother in Law lived to the age of 96 inspite of losing her husband in 1961 and living a really hard life for many years. She showed amazing resilience over so many years. We always believed she lived to such a great age by dint of her incredible inner strength and determination. It commanded the greatest respect and memories of her are dominated by her incredible spirit.
I wrote recently that we were going to address the practicalities of resilience as the world around us becomes more unstable. There has been a significant shift in UK Resilience thinking over the last few years. The idea is often called a “whole of society” approach, meaning government, businesses, communities and households all have a role in coping with major disruptions.
Households are urged to address home resilience as the world around us becomes more unstable. They are thinking of Climate Change producing weather changes which threaten food production and threaten power generation and delivery. They are also thinking of world political instability threatening food imports and power imports and communications. You only need an expansionist Putin to send a couple of submarines to cut power, gas and internet cables under sea to completely collapse our normal world. He is already testing the boundaries and renewed European support for Ukraine will push him to be more reckless.
You may find this fanciful but we are taking it seriously and even more so since we lost our internet feed for a while. Every major event in our house revolves around internet use and we were left floundering without it. Even if you are in the dark ages still, Dear Reader, think about a shopping trip. Can you walk it if there is no fuel for your car for a while? When you get to the supermarket, can you buy anything without use of your credit card? Can the shop sell you anything without their powered and internet connected sales points?
By this stage, you will think I am stark raving mad but it may just be that I have the last laugh if the worst comes to the worst. Above is what we are urged to collect and retain for emergencies. I’ve ordered emergency lighting which is essential and a power bank to recharge our smart phones which could be used for internet access as well. We are building a store cupboard collection of tinned foods, water and medicines. We have both electricity and gas for cooking. Hopefully, both won’t go down simultaneously otherwise, I will be lighting a firepit outside.
If you think we are preparing for a risk that will never come, just think about Trump, Musk, Putin, Xi Jinping or Netanyahu and how all that is working out just now. It is hard to think of more fertile ground for World War 3 than we are in at the moment. A young man sent me this from Florida this morning. It is a photo of the latest launch of Space-X. Musk is a fascist and has delusions of grandeur. Don’t underestimate his ability to influence world instability for his own ends.
Monday, 19th October, 2026
Lovely morning. Had to be up at 6.00 am. Delivering my wife to Worthing Hospital for 7.30 am where she is having urgent investigations mainly via Endoscopy with Biopsy included. She hasn’t been able to eat or drink since last night which is a bit of an issue and she has been warned she could be there for 8 hours which is an ordeal in itself.
My problem is that I will have to make my own drinks and maybe even have to cook for myself. It is so long since I did that I hope I can manage. The drive to the hospital and back goes down the Beach Road and I snatched the opportunity to get a shot of the sun rising over Worthing Pier on the way home. Everybody else around me was going to work and there was I – redundant and with time on my hands.
I got a phone call to return to the Hospital to pick the patient up from the West Wing. I was told that she was in Recovery and would be for about another hour. The traffic was awful; the carpark was worse and I was late. Thank goodness she was in West Wing, that’s all I can say. What a welcome!
She didn’t appear for another 30 mins after additional recovery needed. The bad news is that she has tumours in her oesophagus and upper stomach. The good news is that the consultant said to be the best in the area for these sorts of things is convinced the tumours are benign and has already removed 80% of them. We will know soon.
Tuesday, 20th October, 2026
A dark morning of heavy rain. Still warm but very wet. First on the Agenda today is a trip to the Surgery Pharmacy for our Covid+Flu injections.
The current dominant COVID-19 strains circulating globally and in the UK are XFG known as Stratus or the American strain with symptoms including a high temperature, continuous cough, sore throat, congestion, fatigue, and muscle aches. Even so, Hospital Admissions are increasing because of it and we certainly don’t want to be part of that. In two weeks, we will be sharing our oxygen with 200 other people on a plane and that is a breeding ground for infection.
I walked into a small office in Kamsons Pharmacy where a 5th Former was sitting behind a desk. I asked him if he was on Work Experience. He told me he was 22 years old and 23 next Thursday. I didn’t know that was still allowed. Bit of a shock. Anyway, in spite of being nervous and forgetting to swab my arm first, he delivered two injections painlessly and I managed to stagger back to the car.
A wet day means Gym work but before that I have to sort out the Office. Over time, everything gets messy and overblown and needs revisiting. The Office/Study has continually had add-ons and removals over the past 10 years. I started off with two laser printers but gradually needed more space and ditched the mono one, upgraded the colour one and installed a printer sharer so both computers could easily share it.
You can’t see a lot of it but, behind the scenes, there is a cats cradle of plugs, leads, sockets, etc. which I have pushed to the back and tried to ignore for years. The recent Broadband Router problem has caused me to revisit that nightmare of connections. Although the broadband feed is sorted out now, I spoke to BT management last week who agreed to send an engineer to do a Health Check on my system. He is coming tomorrow afternoon. My first thought was: must sort out the cable mess. My Housekeeper’s first thought was: must clean the Office and especially behind the desks where I am not usually allowed to go.
She will be allowed to go. Recovered largely from yesterday’s ordeal, she will be allowed to go down on all fours to clean under the desk although taking great care about the cables. I will pass her sweets to soothe her sore throat from the cables shoved down her gullet. As long as it’s all ready for the BT engineer tomorrow.
Wednesday, 21st October, 2026
Gloomy and heavy rain outside. I’m in my newly cleaned and tidied Office/Study reading the statistics that will define our Pension Income for the next tax year.
The inflation (CPI) rate and the Earnings Rate for September have been released and those are the figures on which our Pensions are calculated. The relevant earnings growth figure has previously been confirmed as 3.9%, and September’s inflation figure was confirmed to be lower than this on Wednesday morning – at 3.5%. This means that Teachers’ Pensions will rise by 3.5% (CPI) and State Pensions will rise by Average Earnings which is higher than CPI &/or 2.5% at 3.9%. It is one of the few times since I retired nearly 17 ago that Teachers’ Pensions will be beaten by Earnings.
What it does mean is that for the first time State Pensions will move into the taxable bracket for those who have a second pension. People who rely solely on State Pensions will not be taxed. It could all be a lot worse.
This afternoon I’ve got an Openreach Engineer coming to give my system a healthcheck which is why the Office has been cleaned so comprehensively. I don’t usually allow her to go near all the cables behind the desks in case she destroys my system. I pay for Halo-3 coverage. It costs me about £100.00 per month but then runs my entire house. It comes with guarrantees of speed delivery and support services that is something of a belt & braces cover.
As a regular reader you will know that it has been certainly put to the test over the past couple of weeks. However, after 25 years with BT Broadband, I am trying to be patient and work my way through the process. I’m looking forward to discussing it with a professional.
Thursday, 22nd October, 2026
Lovely morning of blue sky and sunshine. Raises the spirits as darkness envelopes our world increasingly at either end of the day. Clocks go back this weekend. Darkness will fall even earlier. On our coast Saturday’s sunset will be 5:53 pm and Sunday’s will be at 4:51 pm. Sunrise on Saturday will be 7:38 am and on Sunday at 6:40 am. Unofficial Winter begins. Time for Tenerife and some Canarian warmth.
I have to apologise for failing to acknowledge the twins – Mike & Liz’s Birthday yesterday. I was rather preoccupied with my own, digital problems. Here they are, probably in Wales, on holiday with Mum and Caroline as well.
This is how I remember them at their most sophisticated and it comes as a real shock when my calendar tells me how old they are. They were born in 1957 when I was 6 years old. I remember them being born. Mum had been warned that her life could be in danger from the pregnancy. As a resolute and devout Catholic, she went ahead regardless.
To think those two, annoying little amoebas are 71 years old just fills me with horror for my own existence. I was reading the obituaries from the Huddersfield Examiner yesterday in an idle moment – as you do – and the number of people who were dying at age 76 was shocking.
Yesterday went well. A technician spent an hour with me and decided that there was noise/dirt on the fibre cabling which BT would have to clean for me. They will use a very expensive, specialised infra red light cleaner which he didn’t have. My Broadband is working well now but not up to the standard I pay for hence the follow up visit.
Almost 25 years ago, I was diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic and I’ve been taking a drug called Metformin daily ever since. It lowers blood glucose levels by decreasing liver sugar production and improving insulin sensitivity. I had abused my body by eating and drinking too much for years and was paying the price.
I was so shocked, I started dieting ferociously and, as a direct result, my Type 2 went away. In fact, I ceased to be even pre-diabetic. All the drugs I was taking were no longer needed and removed apart from Metformin. Not every cloud has a silver lining but it looks like Metformin does. It is currently being trialled because it is believed to slow the deterioration of memory and thinking skills in people with Alzheimer’s. We can only hope.
Friday, 23rd October, 2026
This house has been far out at sea all night,
The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills,
Winds stampeding the fields under the window
Floundering black astride and blinding wet …
Wind – Ted Hughes – 1957 from Hawk in the Rain
Heavy rain and strong winds all night made sleeping difficult and there is standing water in the darkness in the street this morning. Up early because I have a BT Openreach Engineer to ‘clean’ the fibre cables to my home. Of course, by sod’s law, I’ve tested my system this morning with this result. Not perfect but certainly acceptable.
When I established the first Dialup internet with the crashing noise as it looked to connect, I was getting in 1996: just 33.6 kbps. Today’s download speed of 986 mbps is some 26,000 x faster. Of course, so much has changed. In the early days – 30 years ago – I was dialling in to read a few lines of text and I was very excited. Today, words, graphics, sound and video are all carried along with connections to drive all the apparatus of a house.
Before broadband, connecting to the internet meant waiting for a modem to dial a phone number and negotiate a connection, often accompanied by a chorus of electronic squeals and crackles. Seeing this screen was the gateway to the online world. It often took 5 attempts to connect to the line and just as often failed to connect at all. It was very frustrating and any problems we have now are minor and infrequent in comparison.
It is the birthday of my God daughter. I think she is 51. You might ask why a confirmed atheist could be a Godfather and I wish I could answer concisely. It was a long time ago. She is the daughter of my friends, Christine & Kevin, and I was pressed to take the role. I didn’t feel able to refuse. Even so, I remember feeling incredibly awkward and hypocritical in the church service. Subsequently, I have been the worst Godfather known to man but I remember Julia’s birthday and it constantly makes me feel old.
Saturday, 24th October, 2026
It is damp and not particularly warm outside. We are forecast to be wet and windy today. If you want me, I’ll be in the Office or the Gym or the Lounge. Don’t look for me outside. I will not be there. My Housekeeper is steam-cleaning the settees and Lounge chairs after she has finished the carpet.
It is early Spring Cleaning. She doesn’t want to go away and leave the house looking less than pristine. Seems absolutely manic but she is worried that there will be a problem while we are away and the neighbours will be forced to use their key to come in and they’ll find what a shabby housekeeper she is.
Anyway, the Shark CarpetXpert and steam cleaner comes out and the world becomes a whirlwind for a while. I retreat to the Office and close the door. I have learnt over the years that it’s better that way. The machine has a container for cleaning fluid and a container for dirty water which periodically has to be emptied.
My Housekeeper seems to have this maniacal delight in finding how much dirt was in the carpets and furniture and is now sloshing around in the waste water. Not only that, she is utterly incapable of tipping it down the sink without showing it to me first. I must say, I am not impressed which constantly disappoints her. She wants me to be amazed and I just can’t summon it up to reward her for her efforts. In fact, my biggest problem is the fact that carpet and furniture stay damp for some time afterwards and I am banned from the Lounge. Not satisfied with it being damp outside, she delights in making it damp inside as well.
I will have to go in the Gym to watch the football at Lunchtime. It is not too much of a hardship although I am rather disturbed by the half empty wine racks behind me when I do. It is now two full months I have done without alcohol but I haven’t booked a shopping trip in France to re-stock them quite deliberately. I am determined to get through until June 1st without touching wine at all. It is an exercise in self-discipline for me not some sort of crusade towards Methodism. I am not aiming at becoming a Blue Ribboner.
I love wine. I love red wine. I even know exactly the bottle I will open on the day before I fly to Spain for 6 weeks in the Summer. I just choose to not drink it now. And, you know, it is not troubling me at all. For two months, I haven’t even thought about wine other than the empty spaces on the wine racks in the Gym which do rather disturb me. Every bottle I don’t drink is 600 calories less on my total for the day. To burn that off, a man of my age would need to do 3 hours 29 mins brisk walking at 3.5 mph. That’s quite a commitment.
I’ve done this twice before when I didn’t drink for 9 months. People said to me I should just stop altogether. They may be right but can you imagine living the rest of your life denying yourself things you love?
You get these sorts of articles in newspapers every day but this one chimed with me. Life is for enjoyment. I am not prepared to be denied the things I want and which make me happy. What I am not prepared to accept is to see them control me. I want to be in control which is why I am doing what I am currently. Most of us want a long life. We want a long, healthy life. We want a long, healthy and a happy life. There are compromises to be made all along that path.
