where art collides philosoperontap

why am I awake?

3:34 a.m. and Anne is up and ready to set off for Ferrara with the girls. The alarm was set for 3:30 and so we’ve been waking up off and on all night. Claire is picking her up at 4.

4.08 and they have set off. Let’s see if I can get back to sleep.

4.53 still not asleep. Urgh.Dictating this.

Why am I awake? What’s it all about? Certainly gives you the opportunity to think about things. There is an empty space in the bed beside me. It doesn’t feel right. There was a time when Anne going away meant throwing off the shackles of family life and going out with the boys. I will still do this but I’ve arrived at a point where it feels right to be calming down. The problem is that 54 3/4 years of training means it is difficult to slow down the pace of things. Especially when you consider the semi international nature of my life.

…

Finally dropped off and awoke at 7.40ish. Now 8.05 and downstairs making a bit of toast. It’s cold and wet out. Will have the Dyson fan heater on in the office today, probs.

The overnight news if of a change in name of a Facebook Group. “Your probably from Lincoln if….”  has changed its name to “You’re probably from Lincoln if….”. Bit of a shame really I always thought the grammatical error was quite quaint. It has 24,558 members. That’s a huge proportion of the people living in Lincoln plus a ton of ex-pats now living away. It matters not.

New router arrives today, if it is the will of Allah. Anne will be getting ready to board the plane now (8.27).

…

School run dun. Waitrose shopped. Kettle on for first tea of the day at 09.34.

New tripod for the phone ordered yesterday from Amazon and being delivered today.

Also a Virgin router being delivered today. However (from the Virgin website): “Where’s my self install pack? Your self install pack has not yet been allocated a tracking reference number. When it is, you can check your self install pack’s progress right until the time it’s delivered to your door. Your pack will be delivered by our trusty partners, Yodel. Come back here closer to your delivery date and you’ll be able to link straight through to the Yodel website and track your order.” Doesn’t seem right that it’s being delivered today and has not yet even got a tracking order.

12:20

New router has arrived. The guy from Yodel said they usually have a tracking number giving a one hour delivery slot. Turned out I heard him at the door which was lucky. The doorbell is still not extant. Let’s hope it fixes the crappy wifi issue. Fingers crossed eh?

16.02

Back from school run. Router up and running, NAS box IP address changed, printer back online, weekend starts soon.

perhaps you’ll die

There is a fly. It is irritating. Constantly buzzing around the conservatory trying to find a way out. I have opened the door. The fly has flown through the open door and is now out in the garden. What does this fly want out of life? Inside the conservatory the conditions were benign. Comfortable. Outside the autumn is under way and soon the conditions will not be very conducive to being a fly. The fly obviously thinks otherwise. It knows better. Goodbye fly.

with Ian Stobie’s band

Nice night at the Strugs last night watching Ian Stobie’s band play some tunes. There were five of them in the band. Got cab home about 10.50 – was already past my bedtime so it saved me 20 mins walk. Taxi driver was a real miserable bugger. Had I had the exact money I wouldn’t have given him a tip.

Today is a day of jobs around the house so I’m getting this post done early. Not being helped by the appallingly intermittent wireless connectivity in the house.

Also taking John down for a jab at 12.20 – the docs rang and said they had had a cancellation. It’s a tetanus type booster. He had an appointment some time into the future. Picked John up from school yesterday. Good job Anne warned me about the building work. It’s made the carpark smaller and I went early to make sure of a spot. It was good advice. I spent the time reading.

I’ve finished one of the books that got delivered yesterday – “Protestant Dissenters in Wales 1639 – 1689”. V interesting. I’m doing some background reading as part of my family tree research. It’s 8 years since I last looked into it and ground to a halt in the 18th century with three brothers who were ministers of religion for the Church of Wales, The Baptists and Unitarians.

It’s Anne’s last day before she heads for a long weekend in Italy with her pals. It’s unusual for it to be this way around. It’s normally me doing the jetting off.

Toasted bacon sandwich for breakfast this morning. Streaky bacon. HP sauce, of course. John and I will have free rein to eat what we like for the next four days. WIll focus on healthy stuff obvs. A boys trip to Waitrose must be in the offing. Lunch yesterday was at the Burton Road Chippy btw. Ranked in the top ten in the country. I noted this morning a comment thread on the Your probably from Lincoln if Facebook group where there was a strong debate going on as to the best chippy in Lincoln. Interesting what gets people excited.

The band isn’t called The Ian Stobie Band btw but Ian is one of the guitarists. Andy is the singer.

…

Bit annoyed. Our doorbell has given up the ghost. It’s pretty ancient and didn’t look worth trying to fix so I bought a new one from B&Q. They only have one or two wired options available and all the ones that I wanted, the battery operated ones, had had their packages opened. I thought this was a little suspicious but bought the one in best nick and took it home. It doesn’t work. Worra pain. Now I have to take it back. I’m going to have to run with a wireless option. They had millions of those.

In other news my thunderbolt ot Gigabit Ethernet adapter has arrived. Works fine out of the box so I’m alright at at my desk. In fact it’s a breath of fresh air having internet access that works as it should do. New router arrives tomorrow.

Lights in the back garden at the strugglers

I bumped into two guys…

So I went to the gym yesterday afternoon and thought on the way home I’d swing by the Taphouse and Kitchen for a pint of lime and soda. Turn’s out it was closed – new winter opening hours. So I swung by Ian Stobie’s at Colonia, had a bit of a chat with him, and was moseying back to the car when I bumped into Adie Smith and Ian’s brother Gary on their way to the Tower Hotel. At about 3.30pm.

Went along with them, the car was parked outside the Tower, and popped in for the aforementioned lime and soda. The lime and soda morphed into five or six pints of beer and a chinese at the Newport Arch and I made it home just after 9.30. Fortunately early on in the proceedings I’d moved the car around the corner to a spot with no time restrictions. So shortly I’ll be walking back to the Bail to pick it up.

…

Car retrieved. It’s a beautiful morning out there and it was a very pleasant walk to the Bail. Plenty of spare parking as the road closure associated with the resurfacing of some of the Bail’s cobbles is putting people off coming to the area.

Today I am having lunch with a couple of Timico guys then this evening it’s the jazz vehicle run followed by going out to the Strugglers to watch Ian’s band in action. Two nights out on the trot in Lincoln!

There is also the possibility of going to watch the Swallows and Amazons film at Bishop Grots but I’m not yet sure about that one. I hear good things about it and am a big fan of the books but in my mind, going to the flicks in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday is quite possibly the beginning of the end. I’ll let you know if I go.

Pic below is of a leaf that blew in through the car window whilst I was reading my book waiting for John to come out of school. The book was “Protestant Dissenters in Wales 1639 – 1689 by Geraint H Jenkins. It arrived in the post this morning together with “A Social History of the Nonconformist Ministry in England and Wales 1800 – 1930” by Kenneth D Brown, a notification of a VAT refund and a copy of mam and dad’s marriage certificate.

Oh and I’ve ordered a new router from Virgin. The superhub 3 which will replace the superhub 2 that is giving me serious grief with its wifi performance. I tested it this morning with both a wired connection and wireless right next to the router. The wireless connection took a lot longer to load the page. Speedtests were the same for both.

but I’m window cleaning now

Felt as if I needed to get out of the house yesterday afternoon but didn’t. Instead got on with sorting out the organisation of the Christmas party in London. It’s coming along. Going to be another raging success I feel.

Had leeks wrapped in bacon in cheese sauce & fried shard for tea. Delicious.

Watched a bit of BBC4 – the story of HMS Hood. V interesting. I like that sort of thing. Then went to bed and got on with my John Wesley book. I’m quite fascinated by the machinations of religion. People set up new churches for reasons that bemuse the unreligious bystander. I have two more books on the way.

Didn’t go swimming this morning but have stated my aim of hitting the gym this afternoon. Hmm sez Anne. Renewed the car insurance on the Micra. Removing Joe and Hannah knocks £700 off the cost. The car is only worth £50. It’s going to go as soon as Coops finds a suitable replacement. There is no point in us running three cars. Anne just needs one that we also let John learn on. The Micra is Y reg and a real beast to drive. It isn’t really fair for him to expect to have to learn on it (even though Joe and Hannah did). Insurance for me is £170.

Also went live with our Christmas Market party on Facebook. Invitation only for this one.

52 minutes on the phone to Student Finance England. Urgh.

Featured image is of Mo our window cleaner hard at it this morning outside the conservatory. Not sure that Mo owned a laundry btw. Just thought it was a catchy title:)

Little Lincoln Imp Cheese

Up bright and early and ready to go for a swim. This hopefully will be a theme of my two weeks at home and in the absence of jury service. Just having a sit at the kitchen table before I go. No point in getting there too early. It’s a question of timing. Too early and the pool is still quite full. My ideal time is to be getting into the water at 8.25 and to have half an hour of lane swimming before they kick you out.

It’s still a fine bright autumnal morning. Still a good time to get the last fine weather jobs done, although I think all of ours have been done. Now it’s about tidying up the garden. I’m not really a tidy up the garden sort of person but I don’t mind doing a few things such as trimming a bit of hedge.  Maybe even gathering the cuttings and putting them in the green bin.

…

Went out to the Bomber Command Memorial to see the Lancaster flyby. Couldn’t get near the memorial itself as it is largely still under construction and fenced off but parked up near the allotments at the top of South Common to watch with a crowd of enthusiasts. I had been given 10.35 as the flypast time but word came that it was still at RAF Conningsby having work done to its undercarriage so this seemed unlikely. A coach departed the official site so I gave up and went to do an errand Lloyds Bank in the Bailgate instead.

Now home and having a cup of tea. Featured image is a Little Lincoln Imp cheese, some of which I shall be consuming for lunch with some white bread purchased this morning from Curtis’ in the Bail.

Btw the Bail is having some of its block paving redone. It’s been falling apart. Doesn’t seem like long since they put it down. Expensive. Also whilst I remember I ordered a couple of books off Amazon last night: “Protestant Dissenters in Wales 1639 – 1689”  By Geraint H. Jenkins and “A Social History of the Nonconformist Ministry in England and Wales 1800-1930″ by  Kenneth D. Brown. Will look forward to reading those. I discovered recently that John Wesley was responsible for starting the singing of hymns during church services. People had previously only sung psalms. Who knew? Note they both have a middle initial. Convention amongst authors of religious histories maybe? 🙂

Little Lincoln Imp cheese is nice btw but quite expensive for what you get. Not sure I would buy it again at that price (£6.50 ish for a relatively small chunk).

Be there or be absent 🙂

Sunday morning with Classic FM. Very relaxing. Just had a cooked breakfast. 2 slow cooked spicy Lincolnshire sausages from Curtis’ butchers in the Bailgate, 3 rashers of streaky bacon, one fried tomato, fried egg, fried bread and two slices of toast. I’m having another relaxing day. It is the sabbath after all.

Got the History of Llandysul Church booklet through the post yesterday. One of my great uncles was vicar at the end of the 18th century. Turns out there was also a rector. This is interesting. David Davies was also at some point rector of Bangor Teifi. He may even have been the last rector of that parish. I need to dig into it a little more. Was he promoted from vicar at Llandysul to rector of Bangor Teifi? I may have the deets but would need to plough through them and now is not the time.

Another observation this morning. Lots of spider’s webs around. The window cleaner is coming on Monday.

…

Picked a load of apples. My new 10 foot ladders makes a big difference although one of the trees hasn’t done particularly well this year. Small apples. Martin left some leeks and other leafy stuff from his allotment. He’s been very generous this year so I took one of the bags of apples around to theirs.

Took John and Matty to some church youth group laser quest event in North Hykeham and then stopped off at the West End Tap for a swift beer with Nige before coming home for Anne’s excellent paprika chicken. Nige is booking us in as a table for 10 at the Lincoln Taphouse and Kitchen for the Sunday of the Christmas market. Graham and Carol are coming together with Terry, Nige, Hansk, Joe and Charlotte. A good time should be had.

Now I’m sat in front of the open fire. It’s the first time I’ve lit it since the summer. Not really cold enough but it is a very nice luxury.

Btw I’ve announced the first Online Arts Festival by philosopherontap. Check it out and come along, whether you have something to display or just looking. Should be interesting.

that time of year

Another absoluuuuutely beautiful Autumn day. I wonder when the first storm will hit us. In the meantime am enjoying the season.

Rattled off a few quick jobs already this morning and it is only 9.43. Fixed two out of three non functioning floodlights. The third is going to need a new lamp unit (or whatever it’s called) fitting. Fixed the clothes airer in the utility room. Cord had broken. Also replaced nail with hook and rehung the wooden bunting that had been brought down when the airer collapsed. Quite good eh?

Today is going to be a day of relaxation and intellectual stimulation. We have tickets for the BP Portrait Exhibition at the Usher Gallery and are going with Helen and Martin Britten. This will be followed with lunch at the Collection museum and then four lectures related to local history as part of Lincoln book week. I think we will need to be in place quite early for this as I’m sure the lectures will be popular.

Phil is also coming around at lunchtime to finish off the few remaining bits to do with the roof/guttering.

Hannah is back from her first business trip overseas (after two weeks in full time employment). Barcelona. We have only been given a few snippets on Facebook so she will have a lot to tell us.

…

Later. Great duck breast in port and garlic and ginger sauce, sautéed spuds and runner beans. Shiraz, port.

Had a lovely day out with Helen and Martin. Stopped at the Cardinal’s Hat and then the Morning Star. Home now watching TV.

Bridget Jones’s Baby – a must watch movie

I have to confess that one of my favourite movies is Mary Poppins. It’s a nice happy movie with the odd bit of excitement, emotion and a very happy ending. Well this is what Bridget jones’s Baby was like. I was somewhat trepidatious about going to watch it. Did so really because otherwise Anne wouldn’t have had the chance to go. It was terrific. Go and see it.

Kept me out of the pub and we walked there and back so that’s around two hours of walking today. Not bad. Featured image – chimneys silhouetted against the fading light.

Nuff said.

Orsen Cart tour in Lincoln

Factory reset on Virgin router today. Hopefully that will resolve the painfully slow connection times. Have been resorting to using my phone as a hotspot. Also note that I can’t find the MiFi. Hopefully not lost whilst travelling. It was a freebie from EE. Ah well.

Swung by the Bail to buy sausages and cheese and thence to one of the rentals to return the deposit to a departing tenant. Mick is on holiday. Need to get that one re rented but it will wait until Mick gets back.

Quite a pleasant walk really, although you do notice that it gets fairly chilly when out of the sun. Fortunately there is plenty of sun around. Otherwise been actually doing some work today. Have a conference call at 3pm. Wossthatallabouteh?

Anne and I are off out to the flicks tonight. Bridget Joneses Baby, or some simlar title. Love is… Means an earlyish tea (chichen fajitas) and then a walk down for a 7.30 showing. I’d like to bet the actual movie won’t be on until 8pm.

Pic is the horse and carriage tour starting in the Bailgate in Lincoln.

roadworks and continental markets coexist

Quick visit to my accountants Wright Vigar this morning and then a stroll around Lincoln city centre. Lots of road works going on, a continental market making the normally wide street narrow and then two security vans trying to squeeze through.

Bought a small 6 grain loaf plus some mixed olives, sun dried tomatoes and cheese. Walking up Steep Hill bumped into Shannon who then pointed out the beer shop where Suzie was working so we went in to say hello. Carried on up the hill until Joff’s caff and have stopped there for a cup of green tea and a little relaxation.

I very rarely spend time in the city centre without good reason. You can never walk in a straight line. Purchased some Roubles for John’s forthcoming Russia school trip.

Featured image is the patisserie in the high street this morning. Very French blokes behind the counter.

Home Sweet Home

It’s nice to wake up in my own bed. Snuggle up to Anne. Go downstairs to make the tea. Be offered a bacon sandwich (because we have to use it up). Have a second cup of tea. Ease gently into the morning. With the possible exception of a quick trip to Brussels I am now home for three weeks. Wahey. It’s been a busy summer.

I suspect that the shorts are shortly about to go back into the drawer until next season. I may take the opportunity to rearrange the wardrobe and drawers. Might also look to ordering some wood although we do have a lot of stuff on the pile at the bottom of the garden. It’s mostly old furniture and shelving and needs chopping up or sawing. Ok for kindling but not for the real deal.

A loud jazzy noise is coming down the stairs. John is up for breakfast. At least it’s not Radio 1.

Returned last night to the news that Anne is now Chair of the Friends of William Farr School. Proud of her. I asked whether she was a chairman, chairwoman, chairperson or simply just chair. She wasn’t sure. Doesn’t sound right being married to a chair. An inanimate wooden object. It is easier to say though. Try it.

The loud jazzy noise is fading away as it retreats upstairs.

The front door opens and closes behind a departing school run. The house is quiet.

Began following a really useful twitter account last night. @howoldishenry provides a daily update on how old King Henry VIII would be were he still alive today. You never know when that info is going to come in handy and it is a good reference source for any neo-Tudor studies anyone may be undertaking (I may have invented a new movement there).

In other news we have just booked a weekend in Clematis Cottage in Tealby for February whilst John is away in Paris on a school trip. We won this in the raffle at Joanne Haylock’s charity ball in the summer. Yay. Tealby is not very far but it will be a nice break. Two pubs I think and local walks.

Right. Gotta get on with things. Catch ya later.

Featured image is a campervan mug. One of a pair sent by cousin Janette. Thanks Janette. Check out our campervan rental website Anne’s vans.

The afternoon shift

Spent the day on the ITSPA stand at Convergence Summit South. For the last time ever. The show is morphing into something else in Birmingham. Whatever. We had a barrel of Daisy Gold on the stand and it was beholden on us ITSPA council members to lead by example.

Andy Rawnsley and I were about to leave to walk to the station when someone I had fed a beer to offered to drive us there. We ended up at the Euston Tap pub before Andy left to catch the 18.00 train to Manchester.

I walked to the Kings Cross Tandoori for some nosh as I had an hour before my 19.06 left. Weird conversation on the table next to me. Some bloke talking to his mate. He was speaking out against Facebook. The pal was clearly a Facebook user and was trying to agree diplomatically with the dissenter. Ex girlfriends seemed to be involved in the conversation.

The talk moved on to a proposed boys golfing trip whereby the girls would be able to go off and do their own thing. Belton Woods was mentioned as a “great hotel”. They really lost me there. Belton Woods is just a modern corporate edifice with no character. Hey…

On the train some bloke came and sat opposite me. After a couple of minutes he decided to move to a different carriage. Must have been something I said! Now listening to a bit of late night jazz. Ruby, My Dear by Charlie Rouse.

Quite a full train. A lot of them will get off at Peterborough. Good oh.

…

Gibberish – the language of the Gibbers. A once proud people the Gibbers lost the plot. Nobody knows where the plot went or tbh are particularly bothered but go it did sending a whole nation into disarray.

They didn’t walk around in circles in a confused manner but did start making incoherent statements about subjects known only to themselves. Some Gibbers would vibrate their lower lips with their forefingers exacerbating the problem of communication.

The biggest issue facing the Gibber people is the fact that not only can nobody outside their community understand a word they are saying but none of them can understand each other either. Each Gibber therefore lives in a world of his or her own.

None of them have a problem with this because at least they each understand what they are trying to say, even if nobody else does. Those speaking Gibberish are kings in their own cocoon.

And a barrel of Daisy Gold

Usual great trefor.net exec dinner last night. Got a little heated when we discussed Brexit so I had to move the conversation on. We were all cream crackered having been on our feet at Convergence Summit South all day. Food was a bit of a disappointment. They didn’t have any steaks and not enough steak and ale pies but we got by. I ended up with ham, egg and chips. Fine. I like ham egg and chips.

Adjourned to the bar afterwards drinking brandies and whiskies.

This morning is a beautiful Autumn day. I passed on my usual walk around Hampton Court as my new shoes are giving the back of my foot a bit of gyp. Instead sat in the lounge bar tapping away.

Now I’m sat doing booth duty at the ITSPA booth at Convergence Summit South. How did I get lumbered with this? Ah well. Just a question of deciding when is the right time to have the first beer. After lunch. Probs.

Looking forward to an abstemious time for the next three weeks. I’m currently not going anywhere until Madrid towards the end of October at which point it will be ten days away. Part of that will be with Anne which will be great.

Hampton Court

Usual great LONAP social last night following the AGM. Belgos on Kingsway. Hit the hay relatively early. Woke up to find the shower not working. Waited around 90 mins but ended up having to use a flannel and a bottle of water. Not good. Suggested that some “consideration” would be appropriate for my next stay which is 8th Dec. I got an email from the front of house manager telling em we would be upgraded to highest available spec room. Fine.

Now in room 3 of Kings Arms at Hampton Court. I stay here every year for the convergence summit south show. It’s the best room I’ve had. 4 poster bed. What’s more the shower works 🙂

My two panel sessions at the show went well. ITSPA have a barrel of beer on the stand so I took a pint along for the second, ITSPA session.

Now headed down to bar for some pre dinner drinks.