2009 — 12 October: Monday

Tired and sleepy, so I'm off to bed. But first, tonight's picture of Christa from February 1987:

Christa in February 1987

It's 01:58 and the evening entertainment was the Baz Luhrmann film "Australia". Highly manipulative, but not unenjoyable. Rather long, though. Must do some supplies shopping later. Have just been invited to spend Christmas with my cousins in Birmingham — fantastic. I've also just learned that Junior is on his way back (from, I deduce, Denmark, as he mentions Danish chocolate). I didn't even know he'd been away. Kids, heh? G'night.

Thermal drops

It's 09:17 and a nice, hot cuppa is at hand with some Billie Strayhorn and Duke Ellington jazz on BBC Radio 3. The sun is shining; this is good as the temperature in the living room dropped about seven F overnight1 after I'd switched off the gas fire. In fact, it was warmer in the kitchen, presumably because of the fridge and the two freezers beavering away. There's plentiful hot water, of course, thanks to the electric immersion heater. I think I may be able to survive2 until the boiler's thermocouple is replaced. And I have a 3KW fan heater in reserve up in the loft — a hangover from the waterbed disaster a few years ago when we needed to dry things out in our bedroom. Dreadful stuff, water, when it gets loose in a house.

I reckon it's nice enough for a trip down to the bookshops of the mouth of the Bourne. Now there's an idea. Better get some brekkie inside me first, though. It's 10:15 and I've been idly browsing Zoopla! They have no data on my house, of course, because it's not changed hands since we bought it from the builder back in 1981. Still fascinating to look around the area, though.

Just back...

... from a gloriously sunny lunchtime jaunt to the seaside. The sea at Bournemouth was like a millpond, and the Needles were clearly visible, as was Old Harry. 68.1 miles there and back, and not a book bought. (I did sit and cheekily read the bulk of a 2007 one about Windows Home Server, however. I suppose the cost of the petrol made it an expensive library book.) So, just time for a cuppa before I nip out to do some foody shopping. It's 15:50 and BBC Radio 4 is talking about tea, too.

Fascinating piece on Jerry Seinfeld, and comments too. Bring back 'Larry Sanders' as well. Wonderfully funny shows that never got a fair initial showing in the UK (thank you not, BBC).

A high-definition TV picture is worth...

... many thousands of words in some of the BBC blogs on the topic. This one was QI.

  

Footnotes

1  And it was a cold, clear night when I got back shortly after 01:00 with lots of stars out and about. I was glowing, courtesy of an Indian meal...
2  It occurs to me that my favourite mad aunt in the Midlands (the one who died last year) made it to 96 in a detached corner house with no central heating courtesy of a couple of ineffective night storage heaters and an electric fire in her living room. Mind you, back in that brutal winter of 1962 she and my uncle had stayed with us in Alderley Edge while Dad was recovering from a knee operation that (because of a dislodged blood clot) very nearly killed him and dear Mama had managed to break her ankle. When they eventually got back home they discovered a frozen hot water bottle in their bed. Brrr.