You would never know it was August. It's as dull and chilly as late Autumn. Not only that, with our recent strong winds, some trees are convinced that Summer is over and are shedding brown leaves everywhere. You feel like shouting "No! Stop it!" but you just know the trees aren't going to listen to some gesticulating and noisy ape descendant.
'C' That?
Remember the Sinclair C5? Those of you who can't, it was a sort of sports model mobility buggy. available in any colour as long as it's whit
What a lovely morning. The birds at Queens Park, normally preparing for a days foraging for breadcrumbs, are all resting on the island on the far side of the lake. A solitary woman struggles to stop her young infant from learning to swim. The day has that quiet feel to it, a relaxed, easy going day to sit back and enjoy.
Unfortunately the sun is also shining which means it's going to get blistering hot. The weather people have taken great delight in pointing out how urban areas heat up under
The old guy sat at the bar watched me order a pint of cider before wishing me a good afternoon by way of friendly greeting. The pub had looked inviting, and after returning from my trek up to Bincknoll Castle (a medieval site a few miles southwest of Swindon) the prospect of a cold pint was too good to ignore. With framed photographs of Lancaster bombers on the walls I knew this was a proper English country pub.
He was a talkative chap. Pretty much a typical country bar-fly I suppose, but I
Last night was definitely the coldest I can remember. According to the weather report it went down to around -7 degrees centigrade. Thats pretty balmy weather if you hail from Russia or Scandanavia, but for us middle Englanders, it's pretty darn cold!
The contractors working downstairs seemed a little subdued this morning, and I suppose the thought of having to work to keep warm wasn't pleasing them at all. Anyway, the sound of their radio playing came through the floorboards of this old hou
There's nothing much going on and since I haven't been hiking much this year, I thought that Monday would be a good excuse to hit the trail. An early morning start then. That was never a problem for me. I've always been a self disciplined chap at heart. So when I began to wake around six o'clock, there was the urge to leap out of bed and be on my way - hopefully remembering to dress for the occaision - but no, a stronger urge to sleep on took hold.
That's not like me. Every so often I wearil
Recently I drew attention to a school in southeast England that has been criticised for sending a sheep to market as part of childrens education. Whilst it may seem cruel at first sight, those kids are learning where food actually comes from and learning that emotional attachment comes at a price.
Here's the problem though. The human race is multiplying at an increasing rate. David Attenborough tells us that in the last fifty years, the human population of the world has tripled. Vastly impr
Sometimes I wonder if falling over is a communicable disease. A former boss, DS, has long demonstrated a complete inability to stay on her feet, drunk or sobre. It seems I'm starting to show signs of the same affliction.
My task for the day was simple. I have one of those desktop lamps that doesn't have a bulb to fit it. So I set off with the aim to find a suitable light bulb with which to illuminate the darkened recesses of my hovel. Unfortunately the lamp happens to be one of those old Woo
Yesterday young miss T leaned over my shoulder and chatted away in her usual jovial manner as I attempted to stay focused on my jobsearch. Of course I failed. No man is capable of multitasking, young pretty blondes demand attention, and the male instinct to flirt is impossible to resist. It also happens we have compatible personalities, which is a bit worrying, because she's somewhat less than studious nor a law-abiding character at all.
"I've had enough of this." She announced in her usual
The sound of heavy breathing made itself apparent as I sit here in the library. Poor chap sounds like he's going to expire of a heart attack before he gets to the second floor. I do sympathise, having to climb stairs all day at work too, but he's going to need oxygen at the top of this climb. He does make it to the top of the stairs, waddling slowly onto each step with weary persistence.
Hang on a minute... If that was such a physical performance, why isn't he breathing deeply and resting?
All I did was go for a walk. In the two or three hours it took me to wander around the Mouldon Hill area, I very nearly achieved a dose of sunburn. My reflection in the mirror is an almost embarrassing shade of red. I'm actually glad todays weather is grey and slightly damp. It's spitting with rain right now. What a difference a day makes.
On the way there I followed the railway path. As a child I used to walk along the tracks. Back then the line was no longer used for regular services and
Winter is here. Okay, that statement might sound a tad obvious, but in Britain it means a good deal more. For the last few decades we've had gentle Autumn temperatures, and apart from strong winds for a few weeks, there's very little winter until after Christmas. This year we've had a sharp plunge in temperatures as cold winds from Europe sweep in from the east. For the last two days, grim warnings of snow have been made, which has pleased the doom-mongering weather people as it gives them a cha
I happened to spot a book at my local library today, memoirs of a man named Alfred Williams, who was born in 1877 and spent twenty years in the Great Western Railways workshops in Swindon. It seems that he was a man who enjoyed the Great Outdoors more than the hellish graft of his daily grind (literally). In his own words...
One has to die before his mates in the shed would think there is anything the matter with him. Then, in nine cases out of ten - especially if he happens to be one of the
Over the last few days there's been a flatbed lorry parked partially on the pavement during the day whilst it's crew of workmen barricade the pavement off and dig shallow trenches. Nothing unusual there. If there's one one thing to say about Swindon, it has holes in it. Given how unreliable the electricity supply was becoming it's no wonder they dug a few more. But hang on a moment... What is going on?
Now the trench has been filled in the workmen left two upright grey metal poles standing i
From time to time we all need a little help. Yesterday it was a young man asking if anyone knew how to get to the town centre. Even at a good pace, he looking forward to a hours walk and the route wasn't entirely obvious. So in a moment of generosity I suggested he came with me - I was going that way anyhow.
We got chatting. He was a talkative type and the conversation was fast and furious, not just for intensity of communication, but also the subject matter. We got chatting about cars. As i
Today it was back at the work experience program, my very own infant school for out of work adults. It's an interesting experience because with each week the boredom level is clevery designed to increase to mind numbing tedium, so that the workplace actually becomes interesting. We all sat around playing Scrabble. No, really, we did, until the well-meaning advisor brought along a dictionary and proclaimed half our words out of bounds. Young T immediately upset the game board to show her displeas
It's over! It's all over! My work experience placement has come to an end after thirteen weeks of banter and back-breaking labour. My boss thanked me for my efforts and apologised for not being able to take me on permanently. "Are you sorry to be leaving?" She asked me.
It did feel like a bitter-sweet moment. On the one hand we'd had a fun day. Antics and malarkey throughout the morning, but sadly Miss L was on the receiving end of a management ambush after I'd given her a stockroom rally st
Summer is here with a vengeance. Already it feels sweltering hot after dark with all the warm air persisting upstairs. My trusty little fan (no, I'm not going to give him a name) struggles to provide sufficient ventilation. I'm considering buying a movie studio wind machine, but then hauling an ex-WW2 radial aero-engine up my stairs isn't for the faint hearted and something tells me it won't fit. Might be a little noisy too. Oh yeah... Fuel economy... With petrol at an obscene price these days I
As a rule ladders have never caused me a great deal of hassle. Traditionally I have much more of a problem with doors, which always seem to open in some other way than appears intuitively obvious. As I mentioned in yesterdays entry, there was one time when the ladder fought back.
Back in the days when I first turned professional as a drummer, I needed to supplement my non-existent income from record royalties, and running light shows for my a friend of mine, the quiet and ever-optimistic FR
Today is Bank Holiday Monday. I can tell that because everyone is wandering about aimlessly. Small kids weave about main roads on bicycles shouting insults at drivers and pedestrians to prove their stature among their tribe. Ethnic inhabitants lean against the walls outside small shops with strange names, and a few of them hurl insults at passers-by, just for something to do.
I wandered around the old British Rail Social Club grounds this morning, just for something to do. It's fast disappe
Image is so important isn't it? We all manufacture an outward mask and appearance to some extent, in order to project ourselves to the rest of the world. Yet human society is a sort of analog of the natural world. Our very behaviour is moulded by primeval instinct and we adjust our appearance in these displays of shape and colour to communicate to others of our species what sort of individual we are.
I came out of Lawns and turned along the main road through Swindons Old Town. For some reaso
When it comes to job interviews, you can tell a lot about the company from the information and advice they give you. Or not. It's been a while since I smelled a rat but something about this woman who phoned me a couple of days ago made me wonder. I quickly realised she was from an agency, though she din't tell me that, nor did she give any information about the job I'd originally enquired about. Not a good sign.
"Do you have transport?" She asked.... No.
"Have you got a bike?".... No.
Never quite cloudy... Never quite rainy... It's been a day of woeful indecision from Mother Nature. We of the Stockroom Breed however have been much more determined. After all, we've been there ten weeks now. We're already discussing the need to be awarded campaign medals. Mr R died of old age. W left after his criminal record was exposed. Mistymouth left after exposing his.. well.. oddness. There was apparently another new starter who left the next day with a sprained wrist. We are the survivor
Sunday morning... Time once again to step over the casualties of last nights binges and make my way to where I sit now, typing out this blog entry. What struck me was how quiet everything was. A solitary electric tool echoed in the back streets on the west side of Swindon hill, whining away with it's owners delirious need to reduce his untidy house to matchwood. Oh sure the church bells were trying to keep christians occupied on their day off but for some odd reason it didn't seem as intrusive a
What you're looking at it something of a survivor of the Great Computer Crash of 2009. Okay, I like trains. Even Top Gear presenters play with trains. What well balanced male of the species doesn't? Football fans I imagine, but then they get so wrapped up in their tiny little worlds too, don't they? But I digress. Pahusett Valley is one of my virtual routes I put together on a comouter. Certainly it lacks the tactile sensations and satisfaction of creating a model with your bare hands, but then
"It's been a strange kind of day" Said the librarian as he joked with another customer. He isn't wrong. When I logged on this morning all I got was a blank blue screen and no icons to access programs or my beloved internet. Every so often an electronic whine makes an insistent if intermittent intrusion to my daily round of website forums, emailed job applications, and the sort of browsing you do when you've done everything you needed and you just want to use up your alloted time.
I even had
