On Target

 Christmas is looming, just a couple more sleeps left.  The omicron variant is big news all over the world, and the UK is leading the way in the infection rate race - we seem to be very good at some things.

President Putin keeps announcing how aggressive the west are in the Ukraine - expect something on Christmas day when we're all busy cooking the turkey.

New year is just over a week away and my targets are getting closer, currently 136 more to bike, 38 more running miles.  I should reach them as along as the weather stays reasonable. I could probably do the biking on the turbo (17 miles a day) but my 5 miles a day run might take some doing.   

Home Straight.

There's been a bit of a fuss going on about the last F1 race of the season where Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the last lap to win the championship.  There was controversy because the safety car allowed lapped cars to effectively move out of the way before it pulled in and Hamilton's older tyres were no match for Verstappen's nearly new ones.  Comments are aimed at the 'artificial' way he won the race, which is a bit rich when nearly all overtaking nowadays relies on the DRS functionality which is a completely artificial invention (and the main reason I stopped being interested in this sport).  

I'm down a little on my required mileage - 146 per week for cycling, 26 per week running.  Getting closer!  I biked in to the office today, so will get the cycling average down a bit, but not sure to go a bit longer on the way home.  I feel I should because I'm 'out there', but at the same time, I like to get home. 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

I've noticed more articles this year about 'Winter wonderland' type of events where some entrepreneurial/ripoff merchant person sets up an area where they can charge adults to bring their children to waste money on junk.  I have no experience of these things (I guess they need to be near an area of population) so I only get my info from the press, then it will always be bad news.  No-one would write about a successful Winter Wonderland because no-one would read it.  Seems like we need misery to see up through to Christmas.

Talking of seeing things through...I need to be doing 152 mile cycling weeks and 24 mile running weeks until 31st Dec.  Last week was a decent running week, nearly 27 miles, but cycling was only 92, thereby slipping deeper into the red.  The weather is looking like I can bike into the office a couple of times this week, I just need to motivate myself at 6 o'clock in the morning.  I can only manage 15 miles on the turbo before I get bored/too sweaty, so the only way to get the miles in is to get out ion the fresh air. 

 

Oiling the Chain

"Oil companies made bigger profits when the price of gas went up, and didn't increase production to keep the prices down".  Tut tut.  Whatever next?  Bears defecating in the woods?

Companies really can't win when they are on the wrong side of public opinion, and reality never gets in the way of a good headline.

As for my reality, the end of the year is drawing steadily nearer and I'm still down on my targets, but not by too much I hope.  I'm 138 miles down on the cycling which means an average 135 miles per week, and the running is 21 down with 25 per week required.  Last week was a good cycling week (149) but running suffered because of it with only 10 miles.  Weather this week is looking very wet (atrocious at the moment) so I need to up my game on the rollers and get the waterproofs out for running.

   

Target Practice.

Bit of a self indulgent post today.  My 2021 targets of 5000 miles cycling and 1000 miles running is beginning to look decidedly more difficult as the end of the year looms.  I'm currently 209 down on cycling, 12 down on running.  The running I'm not too bothered about, I'm sure I can reach that one, but because the cycling depends on decent-ish weather I feel like it's a tall order.  I do have a turbo trainer of course, but anything beyond 20 miles takes a huge amount of will power to overcome the boredom.  I'm Ok until 15 miles (usually about 45 mins), then I can't wait to dismount.

Hopefully I will get a decent few days to catch up, but I'm getting less confident.  For instance, my weekly goal for cycling was 102 miles, it's now 142 miles which is almost 3 cycle to works, or 2 long versions (if I go the scenic route).

Watch it!

 A survey for the Radio Times found that we lie about what we watch on TV so we feel part of a conversation.  I wonder if this happen where everyone says they watch something, but no-one has.  I would like to be a fly on the wall with that one.  I have been known to get shows mixed up when talking about older ones - something I thought was called Bobs Books (I made that name up by the way) was actually Fred Burgers.  Easily done when quite a few years have passed as in my case.   

Einstein's Theory.

 Suicides on the increase because of higher humidity????  Not the sort of headline you could make up is it?  I was so surprised/bemused that I didn't even read the detail as I subconsciously filed it in the total rubbish filed.  Or is it?  I suppose every theory has to start with something, and even e=mc2 might have sounded odd at first.  Anyway, it's so outlandish I'm just going to ignore it.

For those about to rock..!

 John Cleese has 'banned himself' from appearing at an Oxford university that has just banned an actor (?) for doing a nazi salute or similar.  John Cleese banned himself for doing the same thing back in 1973 ish for a Monty Pythons episode.   The amusing thing for me is that this is exactly what Monty Python tried to do - make harmless fun of things.  Luckily, Mr Cleese is probably not desperate for his appearance fee (although he famously had to start touring again after he gave up a great deal of his wealth due to a divorce ), and can afford to make a point quite easily.  I wonder if the students involve see the funny side, but it amused me.

  

Fat Controller.

 A Hollyoaks actress decided to 'take control' and join the OnlyFans website where she could post 'stuff', get paid for it and generally do what she wants instead of doing what her agent/manager/employer wanted, or at least that;'s the impression I got when I read the article.  Unfortunately, her contract with Hollyoaks was terminated because it didn't fit with the show's image.  Bit odd for a show that might use that as a story line, and unfortunate for someone that was 'taking back control' to have something she couldn't control done to her.

The BBC is questioning if COP 26 currently taking place in Glasgow as not organised enough to prevent queues, a disabled minister not able to attend plus whatever they dress up as 'disorganisation' (I didn't read the article, you can tell).  I'm not sure it's good use of my licence fee reporting on this, and seems to demonstrate the corporation's political leanings.  With everything around COP26 being so big, world changing etc etc, this is way off the mark on the newsworthy scale.     

  

Great Stuff.

 James Arthur has announced he wants to be 'one of the greats'.  I have to assume one of the greats he is referring to is in the world of music, although having listened half heartedly to him I'm not sure he will realise his wish.  But it could be just me, and it got me pondering how fickle we all are when it comes to things like music, art, in fact anything we call 'culture'.   Maybe we need a bit of PR to propel these things into our beings so we soak them up and are gradually indoctrinated/brainwashed into thinking 'great' when the only reason we think that is because it's all we hear/see/listen.  For instance, I have very little 'non-mainstream' music in my playlist on my music player (or 'phone' as it's also referred to), but that when I have I really enjoy - a bit of obscure Ben Folds, even some rare Syd Barret tracks that 'hit the spot' but would never make it to the top of the cultural highlights page.  

Maybe I should add James Arthur to my phone.   Not to phone him, obviously.

Sleep On It.

 Scunthorpe United have sacked their manager - Neil Cox.  Not too surprising given their run of defeats and firmly entrenched at the foot of division 4 (or is that division 2 nowadays?).

By chance, I opened up the local news section of the BBC website, to see an article about the new manager at Scunthorpe - a Neil Cox who had been assistant at Notts County. I thought it was a good idea employing another manager with the same name, makes it easier for the players.  However, on closer reading, it appears to be an article form 2000 when he was first appointed.  Bit if an editing cock-up!

In other news, a village for rough sleepers is to be built in Manchester underneath some railway bridge arches (why not reinforce the stereotypes?) that will 'house' 40 pods.  I feel this is admirable and stupid at the same time.  I've yet to decide on which side I'm leaning.

If I Could Turn Back Time..

 Just read an interesting article about how to get good at something - just practice.  Of course there's some nuances around it (as usual with these bold statements), but essentially, you are not born great you are born with the opportunity to be great.  Slightly different take on the same thing I guess.  No-one picks up a violin and starts playing it  like a maestro, but they might be able to play it well after a lesson or 2, or maybe even watching/listening to some one play it well.   

I have a long held view/fantasy that being able to live 2 parallel lives would save us all a lot of grief/pain/angst.  You just pick to choose which one had the best outcome at the end (although 'the end' would have to be defined somewhat).  e.g. I take a job that I was unsure about (life1), or I keep the same job (life2).  After an unspecified duration, the 2 lives are assessed and the one that seemed to be 'the best' was taken, discarding the 'bad option' in the bin.  Hmm, the more I explore this idea, the more complex it seems.  Maybe I'll stick to the one - its' enough for me.   

Fuelling The Crisis.

 The fuel shortage stories keep on running.  It's dominating the news and therefore a self fulfilling prophesy that it's in short supply.  I wonder what would have happened if we had kept our normal buying habits instead of ruching out to get that tank filled up.  I'd like to think it will be back to some sort of normality by Thursday, a week after it kicked off because I need to fill up my 2 petrol jerry cans for the lawnmower and don't want to suffer black looks from disgruntled delivery drivers.

Al least covid news has been pushed off the front page.  It's been a gradually reducing story, with the occasional item decrying a scientist, Boris or senior education figure.  Lets hope it stays out the news, I quite fancy a holiday abroad next year. 

Running Costs.

 Some newspaper commentators are trying to link the existing gas 'crisis' to global warming.  They're being quite inventive, but I'm not buying it.  It's the old 'cake and eat it' issue where they want the government to act on the lack of gas situation, whilst telling them we use too much gas.  Err, not possible methinks.  I do find it interesting though that we use a fraction of gas compared with a few years ago to generate electricity, but then seem to rely on it.  Maybe it's only a gas boiler thing.

Another dilemma is for the extremely smart, intelligent people that pop up and advise citizens to 'switch supplier!', 'haggle!', 'wear warm jumpers!', when all they are doing is gaining commission from suppliers and purveyors of warm jumpers to line their fleecy trousers -all in the interests of us dumb people.  Hopefully the expected decrease in suppliers will lead to fewer of these types.  I'm not a fan of being told the blumming obvious.

Exercise news - I've entered my first half marathon for a number of years, so it will be interesting to see if I can pace myself correctly.  I'm predicting 1hr 50mins, but I just want to get under 2 hrs really.  Watch this space (after 3rd October, obvs).  

Life's a Gas

Gas is going up.  That's quite normal, as long as the gas is lighter than air.  A quick question to Mr Google reveals that natural gas (which is the subject matter) is lighter than air, whilst bottled (propane or butane) gas is heavier. So now I know (I actually knew about the bottled gas, just wasn't sure about the natural version.

The government is a bit worried about the huge price rises and is looking to give loans to the bigger players in the market, and leave the smaller ones to struggle or go bust.  Sounds a bit unfair, but these smaller resellers have benefitted from an open market place and (I assume) made profit whilst prices were lower (or at least when they were not as volatile), and if they can't weather the storm then I guess we can blame market forces.  My electricity is through one of the newer, smaller resellers so it will be interesting to see how it fairs.

I read that BP is investing heavily in solar projects around the world, proving that old fashioned fossil fuelled energy companies can move with the times, which cannot be a bad thing.  I'm a fan of solar energy, it seems to me that it's one of the most consistent things we have on the planet (actually, it's not on the planet but you know what I mean) only being an issue when the clouds come in, and even then I read that they still function with a smallest amount of light unlike wind turbines which obviously have to spin at a certain speed to generate power. 

Mini Dressing.

 The tory government are going to raise national insurance contributions by around 1.5% to pay for social care and other good stuff.  This is a bit of a rarity for a right wing government who promised they would not raise taxes of any sort, and as much a problem for Labour, who are talking down the tax as if they would never do such a thing.  Politics -  so much hot air for the sake of it.

Talking of money, an article in The Guardian points out that many Youtube 'Influencers' (I'm not sure what this exactly means by the way) are adopting a 'minimalist' lifestyle which (as you would expect) means throwing out stuff you don need including friends, housing as well as the usual clothes and clutter we continually add to our surroundings.  I'd like to think I would be able to adopt this if I were single, but in a relationship you have to consider everyone's 'needs' even though it might be frivolous.   The flaw in this minimalist lifestyle is that it is very personal thing to to, akin to being a nun or hermit but being able and willing to brag about it in a not very minimalist way.

Fantastic Plastic

 The Woodland Trust is looking at different ways to protect newly planted saplings without resorting to traditional plastic tubes.  The aim is to reduce the amount of plastic waste and remove the need to produce them hence being even more environmentally friendly.  Being a member of the tree planting club myself (although not in quite the same league), I was interested to note that the plastic tubes don't 'rot away after a few years' as I has until now thought was the case.  Evidently, they end up as fragments of plastic cluttering up the countryside, which is not a good thing.  I cannot recall when and where I first read about the 'rot away after a few years' myth, but it sounded plausible, and possibly the author/narrator was basing his/her statement on the perceived wisdom of the time in that if you can't see it, it must have gone theory.  We now know that is not quite correct, with micro-plastics ending up in all sorts of things from fish to breast milk.  Therefore, I must applaud (although I don't like that phrase) the Woodland trust for taking this up, and I'll keep an eye on my plastic tree guards over the next few years and recycle if possible.  

As of last weekend, my annual running and cycling targets are finally back on track.  I had fallen a bit behind with the running, but after a few longer runs over the last month I've drawn level with the target and kept the cycling just in front.  This week I'll lose a bit of cycling time due to a few days in Scotland without a bike, but my running should be higher than average.   

..and not a drop to drink.

 I remember reading somewhere, that there is a fixed amount of water in the world, never more, never less. So, if that is true it always fascinates me why we have water shortages and deluges of rain causing all sorts of misery to the local population.  I make the assumption (probably incorrectly) that the shortage is a direct result of the deluge or vice versa, and everything balances out over a period of time.  It would be good to work out how much water is held in 'storage', or clouds as call them before its' dumped somewhere.  I know some countries have tried to produce rain artificially, but it's probably a chemical that disrupts the storage area and makes the already natural rain fall from the sky.  You can tell I'm an expert.

Intended to go for a run this morning, but a light drizzle didn't look very appealing so stayed dry instead.  If it was late Winter I would be out in it, looking forward to drier, sunnier days but when we look to be leaving those days behind the thought of getting a bit damp is not something I feel I want to do.  I can't imagine we will having a water shortage around my area.   

  

Smoke Free Zone

 A few days ago, an MP (I seem to recall) wanted anyone born after 1995 (or similar) for them to be illegal to smoke cigarettes.  I'm not too sure on the logic on this, as well as the dates and who said it, but this implies that we have given up on older 'established' smokers who might say they are addicted, habitual smokers etc.  It seems an odd way to implement a smoking ban, and would take an awful long time for the ban to filter through, get the benefits to the NHS etc. etc.  So long, it sounds to me like a dumb idea, but a classic compromise to get something done without upsetting the applecart too much, so it has some appeal. Being an ex-smoker myself (albeit 40 years ago) I should have some sympathy with smokers but I have none at all.  Just stop.  Simple isn't it?

I Can See for Miles and Miles

I managed to get 2 long runs in at the weekend, it's a long time since I did that - an 11 and then 10 miler.  They don't appear to have exacerbated any foot injuries I was worried about last week, and hopefully it was a false alarm, but I can't help think that as my mileage increases there's a fair chance that something will give.  The last time I had a bit of a 'surge' in miles (a year last April) I was out of action with a groin strain and the time before that was a hamstring, both taking a long time to get over.

I have my eye on a bit of an adventure in September - I aim to run the Edale Skyline route (20 miles) which basically runs around Edale (as you probably have guessed).  There is an official race along this in Spring, but I don't want the pressure of being timed, just start and go round as I please, I just have to make sure I'm fuelled up and pack enough to keep me going.   

Winner Takes it All.

 Ah, politicians.  Not ya luv' em?

Not a day goes by without some attempt to score a point, any point, in the interests of 'The Party'.  Take My Starmer for instance - he has received some criticism  (mainly from inside his own party) for agreeing too much with Mr Johnson's government on too many things, notable Covid restrictions et al, so we now have a situation where he argues the opposite of everything, just (so it seems) to be seen to be opposing, rather than agreeing.  No matter that his opposing views are sometimes contradictory to earlier opposing views, it's all in the interests of  'The Party'.  A good example today where he is arguing for the easing of quarantine restrictions to be brought forward, thereby jumping on the 'I don't want to be quarantined' bandwagon, which seems to me to be partly in conflict with his opposition to the easing of quarantine for US and EU visitors in the last day or two.  Pesky foreigners eh? 

The Olympics is now 1 week old, and we're moving onto track and field, so I might understand some of the sports.  Not that I haven't enjoyed those so far, its' just that (apart from cycling) I have never been that interested in BMX, surfing and Taekwondo.  Mind you, covid rates are climbing steeply and there seems to be a chance the whole thing will collapse like a stockpile of LFT tests although it wold probably take a huge rise in infections with top athletes testing positive for it to stop it completely.

Back to the Future

Covid infections rates continue on their downward trend, and even though hospitalisations are up it's looking like this 3rd wave (as it's called) is not going to be half as bad as the doom-mongerers predicted.

I'm sure that your personal view on covid i.e. pessimistic or optimistic is a reflection on your general outlook to most things.  Covid is one of those rare events where history only partly helps, that is we cannot lean on past experience to influence our views despite some parallels with Spanish Flu, SARS etc.  I even see this in the 'experts' where there are so many different interpretations of the same data and surprisingly enough, no-one can see into the future. Pity, or maybe it's a good thing.

Power Up!

 It looks like the government is funding an electric truck pilot near me at Scunthorpe.  The plan is to install overhead cables (similar to those used by trams) which the lorry will 'attach' to along the motorway.  The initial project will be for 12 miles of carriageway/cabling on the M180.  A tiny distance in trucking terms, but I guess enough to find out if it's practical/safe/cost effective before they invest in more of the same.  I read that batteries will be in the lorries for the non-cabled part of the journey, which in this case will be the majority unless they've discovered a regular Scunny to Keadby lorry route. It will be interesting how this fares, and even more interesting if they can go on tracks, oh, hang on we already have that option. 

I'm a Sole Man.

 There's a possibility my right foot is poorly.  Specifically, the heel. After my bike ride home yesterday I struggled to put my heel down without a bit of grief as though it was bruised.  After a bit of googling, there's a chance that its plantar fasciitis, which I know can be a bit troublesome to get rid of.  What's odd, is that I have never felt it after a run, so I'm not 100% convinced on my diagnosis, but it does have all the classic symptoms.  If it is, it will be a bit annoying to say the least.  Evidently its some sort of inflammation of the bit of 'stuff' that runs from the heel to the toes, brought about by excessive use when e.g running or jumping, which doesn't quote add up from my bike ride issue, but some say it can be exacerbated by that, especially if the seat is a bit low (which it probably is).  I'll be raising it this evening and trying it again later on this week if the rain manages to clear.  I did quite a bit of strimming on the banks of the ditch on Sunday, so that might easily have made it worse. I need some better shoes/boots for that job that stop me slipping down the bank.

The Winged Horse

 There's been a lot made of The Pegasus Project - sophisticated spyware developed by some clever Israelis that can capture valuable information from someone's smartphone.  It appears to have been used by all sorts of organisations, political and commercial to gain knowledge and use that info for all sorts of uses.  Some commentators say it's the worst thing to have happened since the last bad thing, how it gives way too much power to those that have the data, and I can see their line of argument, but surely the issue here is our reliance on the mobile phone as our primary form of communication/information source.  That in itself is not a bad thing, so it's no surprise that it's a target for unscrupulous parties to exploit it.  I guess the first telegraph communications were targeted in a similar way, so we have to learn to live with it, fight it, or switch to something else.  Now, where did I put that pager? 

 

Lies, Damn Lies, and Covid Statistics

In the UK, we have had a worrying steep increase in the number of covid cases over the last 2 or 3 weeks, but suddenly, a similar rate of decline has happened in the last 4 or 5 days.  I'm much encouraged by the decline, because the rate of increase was so steep it looked like it would surpass the worst days earlier on this year, but now it's looking like a blip rather than a trend.  If it continues downwards, it will prove the strategy of letting it rip through the youngsters was a good call, but if the downward trend is itself a blip, then it's back to the drawing board, or lockdown as this particular drawing board is called. I'm guessing the downward trend will flatten out the nightclubbers bump the figures up, or it could be that those were also the footy watchers in pubs that might have caused the jump upwards.  Time will tell, but we are all watching those statistics.

  

Crowded House

 The delayed Tokyo Olympics start today, but I'm (so far) not in the least bit interested in it.  I think some of that is due to the time difference, for instance the opening ceremony is on as I write this (13:00) but I'll only watch the highlights later, or possibly not.  Maybe I'll be more interested when the action starts.  The organisers must be a) relieved it's going ahead in the pandemic, but b) annoyed they can't have spectators present.  

In The Shuffling Madness

It only occurred to me a couple of days ago when I was listening to MP3s in my car that some of my favourite songs are those that start with a 'slow bit' (I think there might be a more technical musical description) before breaking into the song proper.  I'm thinking Locomotive Breath by Jethro Tull, 5:15 by The Who and Whole Lotta Love by CCS in particular.  There's probably loads more, but they always incite me to turn the volume up when they come on so that when the loud bit starts I get the full sensation.  Strange how music makes you feel like that.  I'm sure there's been some doctorate written about it and found there was part of the brain that was affected, but I'll just stick to this brief summary. 

 

Sunburn

 Freedom Day, it has been dubbed today.  Free from restrictions day I think is the more correct description when we can ditch the masks and go clubbing.  I've never been a fan of mask wearing, mainly because I see it as a major inconvenience, nothing to do with the lack of evidence that it's necessary.  I know that they can stop/restrict one's droplets spraying on everyone else, but I don't think it's a convincing argument to wear them whenever you come into contact with someone.  Anyway, at least I now have a choice, and those that think they have to wear them can, that's their choice too, so we should be all happy, except that I read that plenty are not.

Managed to get a 10 mile run in yesterday, it was very hot (around 27) but I hadn't run for a week so I saw it as essential.  There were about 20 teenagers jumping into the Ancholme and having a good time, then I bumped into a couple also having a good time in the sun about a mile down the riverbank.  I hope she had suntan lotion on because she wasn't covered up at all!

Literally Speaking.

 Summer's here, or maybe not.  We're well into July and although we have had a bit of warmer weather, the rain has not really stopped much.  It looks like we're in for a better week next week, but then the rain is forecast to return.  I always keep in my mind the old 'you can't do anything about the weather', which is undoubtedly true, but no use if you want it to stop.  Anyway, 'make hay whilst the sun shines' is another phrase that helps justify doing almost anything, and in my case we cut the grass yesterday to make hay.  Did I take it too literally? 

Coasting.

 I had a week in Cornwall last week in our caravan, my first visit for over 20 years brought about by the Covid restrictions on international travel.  I can foresee  a bit of a dilemma in future years where I will have a really good almost new caravan needing to be used and the opportunity to go aboard at the same time.  It gives me options, but I expect 'decent weather' will trump 'potential decent weather' most times so watch this space.

I managed to get some decent running in though in the South West, just over 40 miles for the week and most of those were up and down, not at all like I'm used to in Lincolnshire.  The main route covered the SWCP (South West Coastal Path).  I also reduced my deficit to my plan, down to about 12 miles from over 40 so I need to make sure it doesn't slip[ as far as that again.  The 1000 miles plan works at about at just under 3 miles a day, which on the face of it sounds easy but coupled with my 5000 mile cycle plan is proving more difficult than I imagined.  In theory, I should be able to build a cycling buffer up with a running deficit in summer, then catch up with running in winter but at the moment I'm tracking just a bit below on both.  Hopefully a bit of dry weather will allow me to up my cycling, it's been a very wet late May and June even if it has been warm.

  

Unexplained Flying.

 A report is being published soon about what the the US government knows about UFOs.  I think we all want them to say they have a captured alien in a basement playing poker with the head of the FBI, but we all know that won't happen - because THEY WANT TO KEEP IT A SECRET!

And that's the trouble with these sort of things.  The doubters will become less doubting, the convinced will be more convinced.  I, however sit on the fence and convince myself it's doubtful.  I think.

In the meantime, I had a weekend off doing any form of exercise, which is a rarity for me.  Saturday was spent finishing the house painting (18 litres in total), then yesterday we had the family round for lunch, and I'm not saying they overstayed their welcome, but my planned late afternoon run didn't materialise because they were still there. Anyway, cycled into the office today so I'll soon catch up on lost calorie burning. 

 

As Young as You Feel

A huge scientific study has finally drawn the conclusion that we cannot reverse the aging process.  That will be a blow for cosmetic companies trying to sell all those miraculous creams and potions that make you look younger.  However, it's doubtful it will have any effect - surely those that buy the products understand the difference between advertising and real life.

A female runner in the US has been banned for 4 years due to an increase n nandrolone (or similar, can't remember precisely what).  She is blaming it on a burrito bought from a Mexican fast food outlet.  Not sure what shocks me more, the drugs in the burrito or that a professional runner went to a Mexican fast food outlet.  

Think Outside The Box..

The European cup finals kicked off this weekend, and Engerland played their first match at Wembley against Croatia.  I was lucky enough to be busy painting the house, so could only listen to the match on the radio.  It's probably 10 years since I last 'properly' listened to a footie match and the standard has definitely gone down.  The commentary wasn't particularly good (didn't they used to swap commentators in the 'old days' after 20 mins?) but especially the 'expert pundits' dragged into to give informed comment but ended up giving their full repertoire of footballing clichés and stating the bleedin' obvious.

I was reminded of listening to the 1986 world cup (whilst painting the window frames at our first house) where Maradona managed to punch the ball into the net thereby knocking England out the quarter finals.  I was so annoyed, I switched the radio off and finished the painting in the dark - anything but watch and listen to the match. 

 

Paint it Black.

I'm painting at home.  Not a future masterpiece, nor even a minor watercolour but a full scale house.  It's odd that we use the same verb for a work of art as well as a maintenance task.  It's not the most interesting thing to do, but at least I get something substantial to show for it.  

It's also a watercolour, well, the paint is water based, and coloured so I guess that must be a watercolour isn't it?  With my very limited experience in the paint industry (none, to be precise) having a water based solution to an outdoor problem seems to be in a bit of a conflict between the weather and common sense.  'Its raining - quick, cover yourself in a water based product to keep dry' is not something you hear very often.

Power To The People!

Consult your stakeholders.  Hmm.  Not sure about that.  I've just completed a survey for Northern Powergrid, the company that supply the wires and pylons that carry my electricity.  They want to know if what they are proposing (essentially a £7 per annum charge) is good value for money, and would I mind paying it please?  How they expect the ordinary man in the street to have an informed opinion on that is like asking me how much to sell a football player for.  Answer - as much as you can get for him.

There are much more important things that utility companies should asking, like how much bonus should they give their CEO? ..or how much dividend they should pay their shareholders (answers: nothing and next to nothing respectively).  I really don't know why they bothered - I predict some press release how their valued customers endorsed their value for money offering of £7 per year with a smile on their faces.

Of course, there is no way I can avoid any payment to Northern Powergrid, because they have the monopoly on providing power to my house - often masked by the huge number of electricity providers I can choose from.  I have no complaint about the monopoly situation, but don't waste your money on the survey stuff.

Shipping Forecast

 Amsterdam are trialling self driving boats.  I'm not sure you drive a boat do you? Anyway, they won't have anyone at the wheel whilst they transport people and goods up and down the canals.

I seem to remember they have similar in Norway where a large ship traverses a fjord with some sort of bulk cargo thereby reducing heavy goods lorries on the roads - seems like a good idea to me.  There must be loads of opportunities for this where regular, known journeys can be replaced with autonomous or near autonomous transport.  Shipping is maybe more predictable than road traffic, although I can imagine there are a few technical challenges as well as political issues such as replacing man with machine type arguments.  This has been around a while of course, and unfortunately is unavoidable in all but the rarest of cases.  The 'price of progress' is often used and do agree with it to a certain degree, the trouble being that anyone affected has a very personal viewpoint. 

I can see quite a few island hopping ferries being replaced by this type of thing, and when we venture on our hols in the Algarve, one of our favourite beaches is reached by a 10 minute boat journey staffed by what look like ex-fishermen.  

Dead Interesting.

 Humans can live until 150 according to research by some researchers researching (can't remember who).  Evidently that's the limit of our natural ageing process when (I guess) we just simply fall apart whether we like it or not.  At my ripe old age, I often think I can live forever, forgetting (is that an age thing?) that actually I can't, it's just that I think I can, so it must be true.  A bit like I think that politicians are caring and looking out for everyone, when it's obviously total tosh. 

Anyway, back to the ageing thing.  When I'm not living forever, I do wonder when the terminal decline starts i.e. that part of your life when there's no way back, unlike a broken leg that heals, ageing is not in the same family of ailments.  My grandmother lived to 99, and I think she had about 5 years in this state of dcline.  My mother appears fairly fit at 86, and seems to have a while to go yet.  My grandfather had a heart attack at 86 (?) so didn't have to worry about the decline bit although it's debateable if that is a good thing or not.

Summer Lovin'

 Just had a very hot early summer bank holiday, which was quite a shock after all the rain during May, which in itself was quite a shock after a very cold, dry April.  Weather huh? The price we pay for being in a temperate climate zone.

Seeing that the forecast was for some more hot days, I biked in this morning albeit at a quite cold 9 degrees.  I brought in a short sleeved jersey for the trip home and it's looking pretty good so far.  My knees got a bit burn on my Sunday morning ride so I need to harden them off.

My 5000 mile target is looking a bit better than last month.  Only 25 miles down today, and that will be all but zero after my ride home, depending on the route.  The cost to this is that my running is getting a bit behind, currently standing at 31 miles deficit.  I do have a week away without my bike at the end of this month, which will be useful, but need to try and stop it getting worse - could do with a few rainy days!

Recycling.

 The EU is to allow fully vaccinated travellers shortly, but that's no good for us Brits who will have to quarantine when we get back, (unless it's Portugal which is on the UKs 'Green List').

I had planned to take a cycling break in the Dolomites last year, but of course that was out the question with the covid stuff, but reconciled myself with 'it will be ok next year', but that's looking a bit dodgy so far. I suppose the latest I could go would be September and I'm not averse to a last minute thing (as long as I have enough holiday days left), the question is when will I know it's on or not?  Given the success of the vaccine I have to assume that the prognosis will bet better, not worse so there is a chance albeit slim.  I might have more trouble fitting it in with the family, I know my better half has a few things planned in September so she might be assuming I will be at home to look after her animals.  I say 'her animals' because they're definitely not mine, except the big dog, who thinks he's mine but isn't really.

Still, it hasn't stopped me planning the bike rides, something that involves quite a bit of reading, perusing cycle holiday websites, personal experiences and tourist guides. So far, I've narrowed it down to 3 or 4 nights in Cortina or Corvara, possibly followed 2 nights in Bormio to take in the Stevlio pass and surrounding passes.  If it's not this year, then early 2022 it is. 

  

Potato Head

 Obesity is on the rise, or at least admissions to hospital for it are is the latest health news.  It seems that covid patients are more at risk if they are obese, but no-one is sure why.

But what to do about it? We've known about it for long enough, in fact I seem to have seen 'warnings' all my adult life and the statistics keep piling up (to use a sizeable description).  The term 'Coach potato has been around for years, and in fact a quick Googly leads me to learn that it was a cartoon drawn of 2 lazy blokes named the Couch Potatoes in the 70s and thereafter used as a term for obsessive TV watchers and general slobs.  Funny how words can become commonplace, I don't expect the original author thought that would happen.

In my experience, there appears to be some genetic influence on how obese we get, but I'm unsure how dominant this is.  I'm also pretty sure that there are some underlying metabolic 'things' happening that keep some people thinner than others such as the person who seems to eat what they like but doesn't pile the weight on as you would expect.

Because obesity is so widespread (see what I did there?), we can get fooled into thinking that the outlying reasons (see above) are an excuse for not doing anything, and a quick glance around us will surely tell us that when you get older, your life gets a whole lot less pleasant if you're carrying a few extra pounds/stones. 

Banking on it.

Big strimming day yesterday.  Not that I have a big strimmer, it's quite modest really.  I tasked myself with tidying up the dyke bank, not a job for the fainthearted.  Its about 3 metres deep with a trickle of water at the bottom, but around 60 metres long so doing both sides when I haven't done them for a couple of years is not the best job for an old bloke like me.  Those brambles grow very fast. Took the dog with me for a run this morning and when I stopped on the outskirts of the village to put his lead on, by back suddenly started aching to remind me what I had done yesterday and has been a bit stiff all day.

I ha e my car in to sure a 'knocking noise' (very technical) tomorrow, so I'm biking into work.  No big deal other than that rain is forecast in the afternoon, and it's been quite heavy of late as well as difficult to forecast.  I should be OK in the morning but I've hedged my bets by bringing my best rain jacket into the office today so I have the option if it is damp when I leave.

My workshop is taking shape at home, just need 4 more 8x4 sheets and the basic construction will be almost complete.  I'll put a door on before next winter to fill what will be a 4 ft gap. I need to think about where stuff goes though, and even though I've been quite ruthless throwing stuff away there seems to be an awful lot that needs a home.

Today is a major lockdown opening milestone when we are allowed back inside to eat and drink - well, we have always been allowed inside to do that, but not in a pub or restaurant.  There are plenty of 'oooh, be careful' types around and the left wing press have been particularly negative, dragging numerous 'experts' out their labs to warn us that it is a bad idea partly (I guess) to have a go at their least favourite politician Mr Boris.  As with all these things though, time will tell and the data continues to be encouraging with hospital cases below 1000 for the first time in months, and daily deaths hovering well under 10 a day. 

If I was to venture into predictions, I predict that we will be OK, unless we're not, in which case I'll be right either way.

Very Descriptive

 Flew home from the office yesterday.  Well, when I say 'flew', I mean 'the backwind assisted me with getting home in a much reduced time compared to normal'.  Flew seems much more descriptive, even though it's totally incorrect.  Some (annoying) people might have said 'literally' flying, but that would be silly, and even more inaccurate.

...which gets me wondering what other words convey the correct meaning, but actually mean something different completely.  Thought of any? No, nor me.  That was a short paragraph wasn't it?  I may revisit this if anything springs to mind.  That was dead interesting.

My plan was to go for a short run this morning, so set the alarm for 5:39 as usual but turned it off thinking I would doze for a bit and woke with a start at 6:30 thinking I might be late for work.  I obviously needed to catch up with my beauty sleep.

Delivery expected today for a few more OSB boards and timber to move my workshop refurb along.  I'm lining a corner of my tin shed (barn) to make it a bit more homely, less messy, cleaner etc. and putting a ceiling on it to stop bird mess and dust getting in.  So far, I've lined 2 walls and had a very, very good clear out of rubbish I have accumulated over the 25 years of it being there.  I need to get to the dump a couple more time, but at least there is now space to put things, wooden walls to hang things on and a feeling of a bit of space around me.  I'm considering a tool chest on wheels for (you guessed it) my tools which I can wheel to my work area without wondering where I put that screwdriver...just need to decide how much to spend on one, they seem to come in a wide range of prices and (I assume) associated quality.

Spin Cycle.

 Granddaughter #1 has written her first blog.  In common with most young girls she's keen on horses, so her blog is more of a newssheet reporting on equestrian news.  Even though I say it myself, for an 11 year old it's not bad.  However, she will have something else to write about now - she was bitten by a bat yesterday (the cat had stunned it) so now has 4 anti-rabies injections to get through.  I hadn't realised it could be so dangerous, so they're obviously taking no chances.

As for exercising, my 2021 targets of cycling 5000 miles and running 1000 miles are bubbling along below the necessary amounts, but I should be able to pull them back over the warmer months.  The cycling target is quite a stretch for me - I haven't done over 5000 miles/yr in the last 10 years and it's definitely pushed me out the door when I wouldn't have gone.  For instance, I started cycling to work (23 miles minimum) much earlier in the year than I would have done to make sure I didn't dip too much below the graph.  The running is suffering a bit because of the extra cycling, so I need to make sure I keep that up when I can.  I was over 1200 miles last year (highest for a while), so it's not that I can't do it, it's just that I don't make the time.  Both are tracking about 10% down, but gradually clawing the cycling back due to the biking to work.

It took me a while getting organised with a locker, bike shed protocols etc. and I'm still not happy with my locker.  Unfortunately I was spoilt at my last place of employment where there was a decent shower and I could use the server room to dry my gear in good time for putting it back on. Where I am now has a dodgy shower so I have to wipe myself down with, well.., wipes  - although I might give the shower a try in summer when towel drying might be more practical.  My locker is 'half size' i.e. not full length so my winter bibs drape out the door and I have to fold them and 'turn' them twice a day to make sure they are dry. I hang my jacket on a peg, which is OK, but my smelly, wet base layer hardly dries when hung over the locker door despite the turning.

Anyway, I mustn't complain really.  It's a decent place to work, and the 23 miles is just enough to get a sweat on and not too far to manage 2 or 3 times a week.  This week is looking good for 3 rides in (today was number 2) and I will have done 100 when I get home tonight (the target is just under 100 per week). That means if I do Friday I will be at least 46 up on the week, and getting back on track.

Access All Areas

Well, how about that.  Tried logging on from the company PC and works OK!  I was sure it was blocked when I tried it last (about a year ago) so I can now get back to daily updates!  Well, I say 'daily' when it will be more like 'when I remember' updates.

Anyway, watch this space.

Predictive Text

 A year last march, I thought that technology would be the only way out of this covid mess, and fortunately the scientists have pulled their finger out and come up with the goods.

To date, daily deaths are down to single figures as the number vaccinated ramps up to over 50+ percent of the population. The only cloud on the horizon is that we're surrounded by other countries who are playing catch up.  This is obviously restricting where we can travel, but we've mitigated this by investing in a brand spanking new caravan.  Might even venture abroad in it when we're allowed.

Just another year..

 It's been more than a year since my last entry (ooh err missus!).

The reason for the lapse, is that my employer blocks this website, so I need to sort out my phone typing and get back in the groove.

I was prompted to logon because my eldest grandchild (aged 11) is quite creative, so I'm encouraging her by e.g. writing a blog.  I'll keep mine under wraps for now, don't want her getting the wrong impression of her dear old grandpa.