2008 — 17 January: Thursday
It's now 01:00 and I've been back from my little Winchester adventure for half an hour or so. I also notice I've managed to rack up 4,022 miles since 15th October (which is a bit sad, in a way, as my/our original insurance quotation was on the basis of an assumed annual mileage of 6,000) — I suppose I can 'fess up when I send in my Pass Plus certificate...
BBC Radio 3's "Late Junction" is a positive incentive to stay awake a little longer, but I'm going to see if slightly earlier nights work any kind of soothing magic. I've been a bit jangled in the last couple of days. As I've said in emails to a couple of you, from my recent mood swings, I think it's safe for me to conclude that watching the DVD recording of Christa's funeral service was, on balance, perhaps not such a terribly smart thing for me to have done after all. I'll know better next time.
At least one of my neighbours has seen right through me!
I think you're doing incredibly well. I know that you're desperately sad inside, but you seem to be making a huge effort to keep that under control and not let it
take you over. Christa would be so proud of you and your altercation with the pheasant would have brought a huge grin... I think this is a very difficult time of year, especially for
people on their own. My mother has been widowed for seven years now and although she keeps very busy, I know that she still finds January/February to be a very hard time. By March,
she is ready to attack the garden with gusto.
Take care with the driving — still haven't got used to the sight of you pootling up the road on your own!! Good on you!
Thinks: now where did Christa keep her tin of gusto, I wonder?
And I don't really Pootle, do I?! (I haven't got my bobble cap any longer.) Thanks, Jane.
Mention of my unpheasant altercation triggered the following image from across the way, and the comments below:
Positively scrumptious. Just out of interest, fighty flighty cock pheasants have wicked dewclaws which do more damage than pecky beaks. (That's as may be, Peter, but I still think I was up before the beak!)
Humax humming along?... department
My chum Geoff points out that I've made no mention of the recent OTA update to the Humax 9200T PVR that so many of us are now using. He's right. I haven't. And I did not have my eye, as it were, on the OTA ball. To my shame, I last updated the software back in December 2006! And, since watching Al Gore's persuasive pitch, I generally switch off the A/V kit overnight. In fact, I have barely used1 this fabulous device since Mike sucked its disc empty for me, in the process demonstrating how very much better quality archive DVDs can be cut (quickly) from it by working on the original digital format Humax "transport stream" data on one's PC2 than by playing the recordings across to (say) the Panasonic DVD PVR's hard drive and then copying that to DVD (both such processes taking place in real time and one in the analogue domain, entailing an extra digital to analogue conversion).
Mind you, Mike also very kindly updated the level of software in my Humax while he had its lid off (not that that's strictly necessary, of course). Currently, it's at:
Software: PGXTF 1.00.21 Loader a 4.09 Updated 24 Dec 2007
I shall consult my chum Keith over today's lunch date — unless he's changed hobbies in retirement, I'm betting he, too, has a Humax PVR. By the way, you're supposed to reset the Humax to its defaults after the upgrade... Menu ==> Installation ==> Password ==> Default setting ==> Yes
More info here. I've also learned that "Freeview Playback" is merely a term describing machines that conform to a Freeview spec and can thus carry a tick mark in much the same way as "HD Ready" devices can. I've seen suggestions that ITV lobbied to try to get the ad-skipping function removed, and to limit the speed of fast-forwarding. But seemingly unsuccessfully in the case of the Humax. (Good!) I hate it when manufacturers attempt to limit the freedom of their consumers. And that theme runs all the way down from that miniscule software business (Micro-what's-their-name?) whose products you don't buy, it seems (despite paying for them), but merely rent some form of temporary permission to use in only the ways outlined in the licence terms. And you can find those terms applied to you merely by breaking the seal of the envelope that contains them. Perish the thought that you should read the damn' things.
What? Me bitter?... department
Mr Postie has just pushed four separate envelopes each with cheques from ERNIE through the slot — all for my late Beautiful Girl, of course! I shall add these to the growing pile for returning and re-issuing to me in due course. Thinks: time I cracked on a little further with this probate stuff. I shall get a certified physical copy of her will as (since the recent incident of the missing Building Society passbook) I'm no longer 100% confident about our Royal Mail...
Accompanying today's brekkie (10:19 or so) is Jim Croce's "Time in a bottle" (on Radio 2) and I have remained dry-eyed. I attribute part of this to the single glass of wine with last night's meal (thank you, Mike!), part to the relaxing effect of last night's film (terrific tosh called "Fantastic Four"), and part to the effect of emails like the one from Jane above. Mind you, Eric Wilson has a piece in praise of melancholy here!
Back from lunch... department
Actually, since it's now 16:18, I've been back from "The Bell" for some time. Nice lunch, and even nicer chat, with Keith.3 Plus (and this is a vital point) "The Bell" has an easy car park to get into (though slightly trickier to get back on to St Cross road for this nervous Nellie of a driver). Luckily, there's a pedestrian-controlled crossing that does a good job of traffic flow control for patrons wanting to turn left on exit. Incidentally, I do hope he won't mind me stealing a line from his email4 after the meal:
...and I just read your diary for the 11/11 and it is truly moving, and such a perfect tribute to Christa. You are so lucky to have enjoyed such a beautiful marriage, but of course this must mean you pay a higher price now. You are lucky to have many friends around. Make good use of them.
I'm horribly afraid I'm doing so, believe me.
New topic: It's very easy to tell when I haven't put the car back into its nest quite as far over to the left as is desirable (particularly when the poor thing has recently been showered on). That's right, my left hip gets soaked as I have to brush against the bodywork as I struggle to get out. All part of Life's rich tapestry, as dear ol' Dad used to say. Still, with Sheherazade to soothe me on Radio 3 (versus the inane jabber of the Radio 2 chap) I shall soon reach equilibrium, and dry off, I hope.
Next?
Well, the inner man has now been pacified (appeased?) by a combination of roast duck and orange sauce, sweet potatoes / cheese, and peas. Watch out, tum, here come a couple of clementinas, too. It's 19:55, and the loft has just been scoured (unlike the dishes, so far) for any trace of the clothes rail we used to use when Carol stayed with us. Alas, it seems to have gone the way of similar domestic kit over the years. I could try the sheds, but that's clutching at straws, as it were. I have until Monday evening to re-equip.