Thursday 22nd August 2024

I sleep in again, mainly thanks to cats fighting under the bed at midnight, then carrying on outside. And then my stupid brain woke up and blah, blah, blah.

All in all I was in a bad mood and had to get a whole load of stuff done before the four day weekend could start.

First job was to check the moth trap, and the highlight was a Marbled Green, which was very fancy and worth putting the trap out for.

Other than that, we're both pretty worn out and wanting the weekend to come, though Jools didn't sleep through the alarm like some I could mention.

I log on and there is the usual sprinkle of messages with each author thinking their problem the most important.

I make a second cup of coffee and ponder my next act.

I review more documents, but if I'm honest, raises more questions than if I'd go in next week having down zero preparation.

The wind blows more, rain comes down, and so I have to go round closing windows to keep the chill off.

The day passes, slowly.

Dinner is defrosted and warmed through ragu, with fresh pasta, though not made by me again.

It took almost no time to prepare, but was wonderful.

With the clouds, it got dark before eight, which meant we were happy to go to bed soon after.

But it was the weekend.

Wednesday 21st August 2024

Wednesday.

And halfway through the working week, and I am about halfway through my review of documents.

And there is the prospect of a four day weekend to look forward to, jam-packed with things to take pictures of and write about after.

I put the moth trap out Tuesday night, and it seemed a drop in temperatures across the country caused numbers of moths on the wing to drop.

No hawkmoths for me, or anything pretty or beautiful, so I take a few shots and shoo the moths away so they'll be somewhere safe during the day.

Jools had left for work earlier, so it was just me, and so after a second coffee, I summon up the energy, gird my loins and log on to work, and off we go.

As Rune says, there is so much noise around in the department, we spend more time talking about the noise than actually working or talking about work.

There was the 2nd quarter results meeting, and the usual we're doing well, but not so well you're going to get a bonus line. Setting us up for disappointment come next Spring.

There is omelette and Boston beans for lunch. I resist the wine, for now, and so eat well and find that I was all out of enthusiasm for the rest of the day, but do my best to close the innings out.

It was Cath's birthday, so Jools drops a card off on the way home, and back at Chez Jelltex, I prepare Caprese and make garlic bread, with bread that was a bit too stale.

But goes down well once Jools comes home.

The remains of a hurricane are going to blow through over the next two days, so it looks and feels like autumn.

We go to bead early, and the wind rattles the blinds. as we drop off.

Tuesday 20th August 2024

Tuesday.

Market day in King's Lynn.

Or rather one of the two weekly markets in King's Lynn, the market on Tuesday takes place at the Tuesday Market Place, and I think you can work out where the Saturday market takes place.

Anyway, no market in St Maggies today, or any day.

So, to work.

Andfor Jools, day three of Donna being off, and doing, in effect, three people's jobs. She leaves just after six and I am alone, the cats asleep, and just the internet to keep me company, but thankfully there are parts I've yet to see, as new stuff it created in the eight hours I am in bed.

I have an audit to prepare for, so gather documents and begin to take notes. Though do take calls in which we all agree on how shit things are and how complaining about it takes up so much time.

The morning passes.

The expected rain did not appear, instead just some light drizzle, though was cool and breezy

But there was work to keep me warm, of course.

I have been kinda waiting for a clear the air meeting, an invite for which never came, sadly. So, come the end of the day, I send out an e mail setting out my position, it would detonate once I was safely logged off for the day.

Tick, tick, tick. BOOM.

I feel better for having done that, so have a beer on the patio with Mulder, who sits patiently, gently pawing my hand so I stroke him between sips;

I make a new recipe for dinner: chicken sticks, with minced chicken, flour, breadcrumbs and paprika, make into said sticks and fried until crispy.

Another triumph, methinks.

No football again, and the skies too cloudy to see the nearly full, but waning moon out the back of the house.

Of Lords reform

I believe there has been legislation regarding reform of the House of Lords on the statute books for over a century, and very little has been done in actual reform.

There has been a reduction in the number of Hereditary Peers, which results in there being an election of said Peers into the House when one of the few still aloowed to sit, dies.

On the face of it, the Upper House seems and anachronism, especially with Hereditary members, but in order to replace or reform it, a Government needs to carefully consider how it's key function, in scrutinising Government business, is to be carried out in an evenhanded and neutal manner.

Any kind of elected upper House, as sensible as it sounds, runs the risk of replicating the political make up of the Lower House, and said scrutiny not being as rigorous as it needs to be.

And so we come to the current Goverment and it's plan to reform the Upper House, and a remarkable statement to the Politico website from a Peer that perhaps the Lords would scupper Government business if the Peers themselves did not agree with the proposed reforms.

"That sure is a fine legislative agenda, itd be a shame if something were to happen to it".

If this threat is carried through, it would be a remarkable turn of events, for an institution built on convention and tradition. By convention, the Lords cannot block any Government Bills that contain manifesto commitments. If this convention were to be ignored, then the basic running of Parliament would grind to a halt.

Perhaps Labour's decision not to press on with blocking the Illegal Migration Bill in the Lords was on the prospect that if, as expected, Labour were elected, then the Lords would be less likely to block their Government's business.

A wrong assumption it would appear.

Of boats and yachts

It has been said by many, its not those in boats (crossing the Channel) you should be angry about, but those in yachts.

Luxury yachts.

Let me say right way, that any accident involving a potential or actual loss of life is a tragedy, but then something so obvious happens, I feel I have to comment.

Mike Lynch, who helped establish Cambridge Neurodynamics and co-founded the firm Autonomy, and Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of Morgan Stanley Bank International are bothmissing after the luxury yacht there and their families were in capsized during a storm near Scicily. Hope is fading that they will be found alive in air pockets on the sunken yacht.

This has "live" coverage on the BBC website and front page stories on most of the right wing press, and yet compare this to the loss of life, or a sunken raft in the Channel carrying asylum seekers.

It is clear that not every life has the same value, in the mids of Governments or the media.

Bear this coverage in mind next time there is an accident in the Channel involving non-billionaires.

Message ends.

Monday 19th August 2024

And back to work.

Like I've never been away, really.

And for Jools, with Donna away all week, she leaves for the office at quarter past six to try to stay ahead of work, leaving me to drink coffee and catch up on podcasts.

I am currently watching videos of a guy who tells stories of roads and motorways, sounds dull, but like with all such things, it's the personality, and his engagement with the subject that makes it watchable.

My boss didn't miss me, and arranged no meeting to discuss issues and workloads, just a list of things I have to do.

Its all so predictable and yet unsurprising.

I have an audit to prepare for next week, so I find documents to down load and begin the review.

Oatcakes and marmalade for lunch, saving some for the afternoon as Jools was splashing in the evening and so we would be having late supper of cake.

It clouded over in the afternoon, meaning we wouldn't see the full moon rise, and through the day, the soot in the atmosphere made the sky appear almost white.

There was football in the evening: Leicester v Spurs. All going well for Spurs until half time, after which it got a bit Spursy.

And that was your Monday, day one of a four day working week.

Sunday 18th August 2024

Climate change is a scam, the right likes to tell us, and yet northern Europe is shrouded with soot in the high atmosphere, blow over from North America where wildfires are out of control.

The moon rises and the sun sets, all red and angry, as their light is refracted through the soot, making the sight appear redder.

If this is not a sign to change, then I don't know what is. We have just the one planet to live on, not much use if we destroy it.

Out back, the neighbours had a bonfire, wile the moon rose so red at first, to be almost invisible.

The day began, well, late. After the long day on Saturday, we lay in until twenty to eight, although Jools had fed the cats at six, but come back to bed.

With nothing planned, it was to be a lazy day.

We had coffee and then fruit for breakfast with more coffee, by which time it was ten or just gone, so Jools went to see Jen, then went swimming, while I did stuff around the house, and cleared up afterwards.

Another fine day, though the smoke meant the sun was diffused somewhat, so not as hot, though hot enough even sitting on the patio.

Lunch was bacon and chipolata rolls, a brunch of champions, for sure.

There was, of course now that the season is back under way, football in the afternoon. All the afternoon, and as ever was a question of whether we could stay awake.

Supper was carbonara: I got some guanciale out of the freezer, boiled some pasta, grated cheese and brough it all together in about twenty minutes. I even opened a bottle of XV to go with it.

And with that, the weekend was over, and back to work on Monday.