2011 — 18 August: Thursday
Flying in the face of the advice in the IBM Retirement "Briefing Folder"1 — not that I've looked at it since March 2007, and I certainly don't have a clue where it is now — Len and I will be heading into Hursley for lunch with a couple of ex-colleagues who have yet to break free. It's 08:36 and drizzling mildly. Perfect weather for it. Much heavier rain to come, of course. So it's also perfect for a visit to the care-home. Now, if only I could remember where that is, and who's in it. And why I should go there...
Speaking of going places
Having finished the 6,000,000 year Julian May saga last night...
... where in the galaxy should I venture next, I wonder? First stop, the kettle. I'm feeling virtuous having just done a spot of home accounts balancing. I still seem to have a couple of pennies to rub together after all.
I've inadvertently solved the problem of the hallway carpet. To be precise, the strip of carpet I keep on top of the carpet as a sacrificial layer.2 A jolly good way of stopping the top strip from "riding up" into a potentially neck-breaking bump is simply to pile three redundant desktop PCs at one end, in the kitchen doorway in fact, pinning it down. Makes getting into the kitchen through that doorway a bit more interesting, but so what? Besides, the PCs are off on a one-way trip to a charity next week.
It's pouring with rain, really quite dark, and almost autumnally chilly. So I've just satisfied myself the uninspected central heating system can still warm up my little house without soaking it. Call this summer? Pah! Right. Time to throw on some glad rags and set off for parts known only too well (though largely unvisited in the last — can you believe? — coming up to five years). My, how Time flies.
Soggy afternoon
I don't mind a spot or two of drizzle. But when White Van Man passes you and covers your windscreen briefly in a tidal wave, I find that a bit much. Still, at least the forecast was accurate for once. I've now had my first, and very likely my last, ostrich steak. And, no, it didn't taste like chicken. But a good chat was had by all, followed (in my case) by coffee and a biscuit with Len in preference to a trip over to the care-home.
Since my return, I've retrieved a couple of items from behind the venetian blinds, sworn mildly at my latest credit card statement, and have been poking around MythTV. I may also have found my next Ubuntu distro — Ubuntu 666.10:
Looks devilishly attractive.
Is that the time?
Just watched the first of these three arrivals...
It's a delightful Argentinian film from 2008. The 15-minute interview with the director is cool, too. Now, having just stewed the next batch of plums, what shall I watch next? The Albert Finney looks promising and has a fabulous cast. I spotted the Luke Wilson in "Best Buy" on Monday but checked it out on IMDB before ordering it. Is that restraint, or what?
Given that it's now 22:13 and the shorter of the films is 95 minutes I think I'll let the screen cool down for a bit. Since I've actually embarked on another Julian May trilogy — that, in the past, has always defeated me mid-way through volume #1 — I shall make myself a cuppa and retire upstairs to the reading room. Where did I put my pipe and slippers?