Sorted?

What an idiot I am. Thinking that everything works like clockwork.
Comet do not. Well their employees don't anyway and the Company is only as good as their employees.
As told in my last blog, Comet was supposed to send out someone to pick up the Television this morning. Thursday 29Th December 2011. Also was told that a full refund would be arranged. As I paid by debit card I expected the refund to be in my bank. As of this evening nothing has been credited to my Account so I have been let down 100%.
As the woman told me, a pick up was organised and a full refund was being organised on the 23rd. December. I guess that a 100% failure is a disgrace.
Not only that but I waited in ALL day just to see if anyone would come to pick up the Television.
Well, once again I have written to them. This time asking for a Senior Official or Director, someone who can get something done immediately.
All of this has done nothing for Comet and their service, or lack of it.
By the way, I had a three bird roast this Christmas. It cost £10.00p and to be honest, if it hadn't been for the stuffing inside would have been brilliant. It was still nice but I much prefer to do my own stuffing. Still that's Christmas over and done with. More soon.

Sorted

Well! I at last have managed to get sorted with Comet.
For several days I have sent a few e-mails and also had a phone call. This woman from Comet informed me that I should ring the manufacturer up as they had an arrangement that if anything was wrong with the product within the first 28 days, the manufacturer would put it right.
What they wanted me to do was rediculous so I checked myinformation booklet and as I thought did not need to persue that avenue.
Eventually last night I contacted Comet yet again and informed them that what arrangements were made between them and the manufacturer was no concern of mine. Comet was the seller and I was the buyer. I then went on to say that I wished to have a refund as the goods that they sold me were not fit for purpose and not of merchantable quality. I would therefore like a full refund and also would they make arrangements to pick up the said T.V.
I received a reply this morning saying they were sorry and someone would be contacting me with the time of picking up the T.V and arranging the refund.
True to their word, I received a phone call this afternoon and on Thursday morning 29th, December I should have the T.V removed and the money back in my account.
To be honest, I could have done without all of this hassle as on Tuesday morning I was at Hospital. Not good news though about one medication that has been so beneficial to me. So much so that I have felt confident about staying out of hospital. Anyway, I have been a little under the weather so on Thursday morning I went to make an appointment to see a Doctor. When I go in to see him, incidentally he was a hippy looking type of young octor. He was friendly though and I told him that I thought I had a touch of tonsillitis. He examined me then told me I had not got tonsillitis but had a virus of the larynx. He then looked at my medical chart, smiled and said you are 74 and only on 6 different medications a day but I like you because you came in smiling and happy. Mind you he said, most of the people are like that. It is the rich people that are a miserable lot. He gave me a prescription wished me a Happy Christmas shook my hand then I left with him following me. He then told me that this was not his regular place of work. Mapplethorpe was. The spray to be honest did not do much yesterday but today I think it has helped. Mind you I will live O.K.
As Christmas approaches and the weather is not good for producing electricity with the Solar Panels I will only say that so far I have produced about 10kw. hours. I don't expect to produce much at all for the next month. To be honest I think it will be the Spring Equinox before I will see much benefit.
Finally Seasons Greetings to anyone who bothers to read this and may 2012 bring all you desire. I will not blog for a few days now. So more, not quite so soon.

New T V.?

Last week I decided to invest in a new television. I have an old T.V which is a 36" very heavy one which a few years ago was the bees knees.
I saw a cheap television on Comet web. I decided to ring them up and ask if my old T.V could be taken away and disposed for £.9.99p. I informed them it was heavy around 70kgs. over a cwt and a half. The guy told me that there would be no problem.
Anyway I decided to have a free delivery which meant Monday this week. delivery between 8.00am. and 6.00pm.
As expected it was late afternoon when they arrived, about 3.45pm. They took the old T.V away and I decided to set it up myself. As a rule my mate does all of this for me but as I have mentioned before, his Mother is poorly and to be honest I don't expect him here again until she leaves this world.
Well I got it out of the box and started to assemble the stand. By now it was dark and I have energy saving lamps. Mind you tungsten bulbs are no longer stocked as it is illegal for stockists to purchase new stock, but are allowed to sell any existing stock.
Well as the energy saving lights are not as bright and I have cataracts in both eyes, it took a few minutes to get the stand fitted. I eventually managed it though. So now to fitting the cable and putting batteries in the remote control. So to plugging it in and getting power to the T.V. reading the instructions it told me that the T.V would be in standby mode and I was to press the red button on the remote control.
Well I was surprised because it worked, power was suddenly turned on and the T.V went into auto set up. I thought at first nothing was happening but as it worked the bandwidth it started to find plenty of channels and indicated that the reception was good. After a few minutes a message came on screen that congratulated me and that the T.V was now sat up and I was prompted to press the O.K then exit button. This I did. Suddenly there was I think BBC 1. the sound suddenly came to life and quickly went to the maximum, it was deafening but after a few seconds then went all the way back to 0 so no sound at all. I tried to increase the sound manually but each time I stopped the sound would reset to 0. I then pressed menu. Well it was like watching a one armed jackpot with the wheels spinning. The menu was going so fast I could not count how many options there were.
There was a helpline telephone number so I rung that. It was the manufacturers number. After being on hold for about 20 minutes I get through and told the operator what trouble I was having. All I was told is that it was faulty and should ask the seller to swap it for another new T.V.
Now the trouble starts. After contacting several departments of Comet, I eventually ended up in the Technical Department. A nice enough young man spoke to me but by now I had just about had enough. I must have been on the phone for at least 30 minutes. I told him that this was the last time I was going to be moved. He told me he understood.
I then went on to explain that I had bought a T.V and it was delivered that day but it was faulty. I think they do believe they are talking to cretins. He asked me to switch on and then try to adjust the sound. As always it didn't work. He told me to take the batteries out of the remote then go into the menu. Of course it was going mad. He then told me that the T.V was faulty. I just told him not to tell me things that I already knew.
What he then said next was unbelievable. His words were more or less. just pop it back to the store and they will replace it with a new one. I stopped him. I told him in no uncertain terms that I had no intention of taking it anywhere. It was delivered to me and I told him that I was prepared to give him 3 options. The first was to get an engineer out to try to repair it, the second was to send out a replacement and the third was a full refund. He then said he would have a word with his manager. Another 5 minutes waiting. The last words from him was that he would do his best for me. I gave him my telephone number and told him not to contact me in the morning as was going to Hospital. Needless to say I have heard nothing.
I live about 30 miles from the nearest Comet Store/warehouse so there is no way I am going to take a television to swap.
Tomorrow I will e-mail them requesting that the e-mail is forwarded to the MD. I will also demand a reply that my request has been done. If not then there will be trouble. All I want now is a full refund. I just can't believe how stupid these people are. They obviously live very near to a Comet Store. More soon.

Continuation

I must admit that I had 3 pleasant guys working to get me installed with Solar Power.
First of all was the lads who fitted the panels to the roof. I guess they were on piecework because they worked so fast. the next day the electrician was not so organised at all but knew his job. He told me he had been an electrician for about 18 years. He wanted me to be with him all the time. Just as well really as he kept losing his tools. I managed to keep things going well. He told me he was getting paid a set amount for the job no matter how long it took. He also told me he was a twin and that his Brother had just got a regular job so he was on his own doing the electrics for the first time. He told me that it was his job to fit the inverter and his Brother did the downstairs work connecting the system to the mains board and siting and fixing the meter for the generation of solar power. He did the inverter well and told me that this was the first time he had worked on a bungalow, he loved it. In my loft my Mate had fitted boards which had been on offer several years ago at B&Q. This was about 2 metres wide so it was great for him to work. Although I had alight fitted, I took a lantern battery with me and it proved to be very useful.
Then it was downstairs to the cupboard where the power unit was. It was ideal because all he had to do to connect to my board was to thread a cable almost directly straight down from the inverter. He had to make up to isolation boxes up and also wire up the meter. All of these tings take time and as he had to travel a long way to get to me he didn't start much before 1.00pm. It was dark before he had completed but assured me that he was confident the system would work. Thank goodness it did. To be honest, as I am east/west and have a large house to my south I will not make much electricity for I guess the next 2 months. I then hope that my system will start to produce an ever greater amount of electricity for the next few months reaching it's peak late June. I will keep a keen eye on what I am producing but have told my mate that if I produce 20kw. hours in the next 4 weeks I will be satisfied. More soon.

so busy

Since investigating the solar Power situation I have been so busy. To be honest the phone has rung so often it is unbelievable.
I had decided to have a survey and a very nice man came to see me. I had agreed in principle to go for the system with some provisos. It was arranged that he would call the following Monday to finalise matters.
Out of the blue I had a call asking me if I had everything arranged. I told him I had. He told me he was pleased that I managed to get the price before the reduction of the tariff on December 12th. I told him that I had not and did not think it possible as there were only a few days left. He immediately informed me that he could get me a system up and running but I had to be quick.
He asked me a few questions and asked me to take photos of my bungalow. I sent them to his web site and he phoned me up with a firm date. He told me to cancel my other arrangements and very soon the panels would be fitted to the roof.
Before 8.00am. a couple of young men arrived. I don't normally get up too early but this morning I went and opened the gates so I was just about ready for them. As this was a very quick job, they did not bother with scaffolding but just got on with the job. Thank goodness it was frost free and dry, not too windy either. I could not believe it but they had finished the fitting of the solar panels in less than 3 hours.
The next day the electrician came and managed to get it all done. Now whether I have managed to register in time, only time will tell. I did ring British Gas up to check that they had my application in time, the man told me it had and after a quick check, told me that he THOUGHT I should be alright, but as there had been a rush of over 15000 applications I would not hear anything for about 2 weeks. So I will not know exactly how things stand for a couple of weeks or so, unless I am one of the first ones to receive notification. More soon

odd jobs

Over the last few days I have done the odd jobs. One of the more important jobs was to fumigate the greenhouse. It hadn't been done for about 3 years. I got a couple of sulpher candles and lit them on Thursday, making sure that everything was taken out before. The only thing left in was the grapevine which at this time of year is dormant.
I left the doors closed for 24 hours and I did look a couple of times prior to that to see if the candles were working. Indeed they were. The place was filled with fumes.
On Friday, I went in the greenhouse and although the place was clear, the air was filled with the smell of sulphur. I had tasted sulphur years ago when I was on the steam trains, going through the tunnels leaving Kings Cross in the summer was not good at all.
I left my greenhouse door open but the smell was too much for me so I gave up until Saturday. Even then there was still the smell of sulphur in the air but I managed to do what I wanted to do.
Yesterday I did my washing but unfortunately it didn't dry at all. We had a little light rain and it was cool.
Today has been cold, an early frost but not a lot of sun.
Today, I have been investigating the cost of solar power. Tomorrow I have a guy coming to do a survey. I am keeping an open mind on it but I truly think the price will come down in the coming months. Mind you in April next year, homes that wish to have solar electric panels fitted will have to comply with the new regulations. These are to do with carbon footprints. Among other things you must have an energy efficient boiler, cavity wall insulation and loft insulation to their standards. If you do not meet their requirements, then you would only be able to claim about 9p per unit instead of the 21p.
What on earth is the Government thinking of. As I told one of the guys who contacted me. If the Government encouraged people to install solar power, yes at a reduced incentive say 30p instead of the 21p now being offered, then the Government would be able to decommission at least 1 Power Station. As my late Aunt used to tell me. The onlooker sees most. In other words, if one stands back and takes stock. It is obvious that to cut the subsidy by over 50% immediately stops most of the solar power industry putting many out of work. Where is the sense in that? Still I have always said, penny wise and £ foolish this is what you get from officials who have never had to justify the money and how it is earned. Any fool can spend money like water, it takes a lot of hard work to create work and employ people. More soon.

NHS

I am beginning to think that the flavours of this century are internal inspections and Type 2 Diabetes.


I went to see my Sisters today and my youngest Sister told me that her Husband had gone for a colonoscopy, not the full one where they put you to sleep but an inspection of the sigmoid portion. They found something but nothing to worry about. I then told her that all of us had gone through the same procedure. We all had gone and had a colonoscopy. Mind you, only 3 of us had gone and had the procedure going down the throat. Her Husband had not had the pleasure of that yet.


Now my eldest Sister's husband has Type 2 Diabetes, and she told me that my Cousin has also Type 2 Diabetes. I wonder if most of the adult population has it. I guess it is the diet we have now although I have regular vegetables and potatoes. Very very rarely do I have chips.


Now I went to fill up with diesel. It was 137.7p a litre. I had just under 45 litres in and the cost was £48. This saved me £2.50 on what it would have cost me here. It has been many weeks since I last filled up and the average mpg is 71.9. That is quite good as I do not go on long journeys. I managed to get a herring for my dinner. It was nice but as always, I seem to suffer afterwards for getting it. Still it is only occasionally I have one and it is good for you.


I rung my mate up with the news. I was a little deflated when he told me that the diesel was only 1.36p a litre at Tesco in Skegness. In Grantham it is ASDA. They say that it is the only supermarket that has a fixed price throughout the country. So at least you know what you would pay wherever you are.
By the way, I managed to get my money back from the Post Office. £80.94p. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the name who the Postal Order was made out to. A poor effort of spelling my name. With the accompanying P.O. came a letter stating that I could pay this into my Bank Account. Well as I know them well, I decided to go and see them and explain what had happened. The teller, who I know well and has been there many years looked at the name, smiled and told me that she would put it through and expected it to be cleared. A few moments later she confirmed that it had been cleared so at least I am now £80.94 pence better off after waiting for almost 2 months. More soon.

New Potatoes

This week end has been very windy but I got up this morning and as it became more daylight there developed a frost. Ice was on the bird bath so it was getting to zero.
I decided to dig up my tomato plant out of the polytunnel as it can not stand much of a lower temperature as the greenhouse can. I only have a couple of tomato plants left in the greenhouse and they only have a few tomatoes on. With luck though I will have tomatoes until the end of the year.
Anyway I decided to dig up the few, well quite a few actually of self setters potatoes. I set them in January and February this year. I must be getting sloppy because I thought I had dug them all up but I must admit I must have missed well over a dozen potatoes.
With the tomatoes and cabbage in the greenhouse I decided to leave the potatoes that had begun to grow. So when I dug up the tomato plant in the polytunnel, I decided to dig up the potatoes also. I did not get too many off the plans. Well one produced plenty but the rest produced less than that one. I then went into the greenhouse and dug them up. To be honest, I was surprised and altogether I guess I dug up about 3lb or well over a kilo of new potatoes.
So this lunchtime(dinner to me)I scraped some new potatoes, they scraped very well and had some gammon with carrots and cabbage, both out of the garden. I also had a few tomatoes.
The potatoes tasted very good indeed.
I have every intention of going to see my Sisters in Grantham on Wednesday, I intend to do a little shopping too. I have not put any fuel in my car since I last went to Grantham. I think that was either late August or early September. Actually, just had a look in my diary it was on the 11th. August. Mind you, I am getting low on fuel. Will inform of my usage when I fill up. More soon.

Viewed solar system

I managed to get to see my mate this morning. The weather was nice and sunny after overnight rain. The journey was not so good as the sun is very low in the sky and the roads were wet. I managed to get there though.
On arrival, I noticed the panels and how neat they were. This time was about 10.30am. My mate came out to meet me and I gave him a few beetroot and carrots. He gave me what I had asked him to get for me. After a good look, in we went and he showed me the inverter, at that time the electricity being generated was just under 1.3kw an hour. However an hour later it was generating 1.5kw per hour. I was impressed. He told me that up to date, he had generated over 20kw hrs of electricity. He had also managed to get his installation registered and so all is now more or less complete.
As we were walking around I asked him to show me his gas cooker. He told me that it had gone back as it was not suitable. He had a couple of engineers out to look at it and he told me that the flame was not stable. It sounded like a lack of air but I said nothing. He then told me the last engineer told him that there was not enough air getting to the cooker. Out came the instruction booklet and he had enough clearance according to the instruction booklet. However the engineer told him that he was recommending the cooker was returned and that a full refund was given.
I told him that this was great news as I had lay in bed thinking that he had just bought a gas cooker when, now he was producing electricity he would be better off with an electric cooker. Not only was it easier to install as he had a cooker point but it would be a lot cheaper to buy than a gas cooker. I told him that the best cooker would be a convection electric oven which would be fan assisted. Not only would the food cook quicker but it would be more efficient and have the added advantage that if there is a power cut, he has the gas hob as a standby. He seemed impressed by the idea. All there is at the moment is a convection microwave oven. .O.K. as a standby but not as a daily cooker.
Yesterday, I went online and ordered a watchmakers magnifying glass. I thought it typical as I expected it to be delivered today and I was at my mates place. It is rare that I have a bit of fortune but today I did. Normally the postman is here around 10.30am but this week my regular postman is on holiday so delivery is about an hour later.
I arrived back home just before noon and had no mail. I then got my dinner ready and just as I sat down to eat it, about 12.30pm. the doorbell rang. It was the relief postman. I asked him why he was so late. He told me that he had trouble with the van. He could not get a reverse gear and had to push it a couple of times but it was alright going forward. Anyway, it helped me to get my goods, most unusual for me to have something go right. More soon.

Visiting Friday

Last night I rung my mate up and told him that if it was alright to call on him on Thursday. He told me that Friday would be better as first, the Nurse was coming to see his Mother and secondly, he will visit the dentist to have a chipped tooth files down. It costs him nothing as he is the official Carer for his Mother. The long shot of it all is that I will go and see him on Friday morning. He did tell me a little of the system. On Saturday it was a lovely sunny day so he told me it produced several kilowatts of electricity. On Sunday and Monday although the weather was dull he told me that he managed to get about 1 kilowatt of electricity so it looks as if he is on to a winner. On Friday, I will know more.
Today was cool and mainly dull but as it was dry I decided to make a start on burying my leaves that I have collected in a trench where my runner beans will be next year. I did manage to get one half of the ground done. I used one bag of leaves so I have enough for the other side of the ground. I had done enough for this morning so I went in, had a rest then got my dinner ready. Yesterday, on my way to get my pension I went and put in my repeat prescription in so that it could be delivered to me today. So this afternoon I stayed in patiently waiting for my prescription to come. Typical, it did not. It annoys me. They think when you are old you have nothing better to do than to sit in all day waiting for a delivery. So tomorrow I will have to stay in again waiting. I hope it arrives tomorrow or I will complain. More soon.

dark dismal days

November is certainly living up to it's reputation. Dark and dismal. Saturday did brighten up a little but on Sunday and Monday it was foggy and dark.
I saw the next door neighbours on Sunday, the recent arrivals. I was surprised that he seemed concerned that he had not seen me for a week or so. I told him that I hibernate in the winter months. I went on to tell him that my mate had solar panels fitted. To my surprise he then told me that they had looked into it and their house was not suitable. I queried this with him and asked which survey company had told him that. Replying he said that they could tell by satellite. I pushed him a little further and he told me that they were in the process of selling a property so that had been put on the back burner. Mind you he did say that they could have a bank of solar panels on their about 3 acre paddock. It faces almost due south. I am convinced that they could have solar panels fitted to their roof if they so desired they face the same as I do but they are situated much higher and where they block much of the early sun to my property. They have no such objects blocking them.
Now later tonight I will ring my mate up and it is my intention to go and see him on Thursday so I will get to know all the latest news. I know that on Friday and much of Saturday he had sun so he will tell me exactly how much of electricity he has produced. I will be waiting with all ears to know what he has produced.
When I changed providers of my telephone and broadband, my old provider sent me a final bill in early October. There I was in credit to the tune of just over £80. This does not seem much to a lot but it is almost a weeks state pension.
Well today, I went to get my State Pension and asked the man who looks after me if they would credit my card which I used to pay my bills with. He told me that they would probably send a letter with a bar code letting me access my money. I then told him it was over a month ago and that it informed me that I would be refunded within 14 days. He told me to contact them immediately.
Well, when I got home, I rung the Post Office(original provider)and told them that I had not received my refund. What a performance! I was told that it must once again be processed and that would take up to another 2 weeks. She asked me if I would hold while she sent the details to"God only knows" so that they can start to process the money. I wonder if I will ever get a refund. If it takes as long as it did to get my Bond out. This was a Bond that was bought by me from the Post Office but was authorised by the Irish Bank. When it was due. Normally you get the money back. Not with the Post Office. It is put into a savings account that can not be accessed from the Post Office. It can be only done by telephone of online. What a palaver that was to get my money back. Oh well we will see what happens. More soon.

Surprise

I rung my mate up last night and got a big surprise.
I tentatively asked him if he had a visitor that day. To my surprise and delight he told me he had. Not only had the installers of the Solar System had called, they not only came, they actually completed it in a day.
He told me that they arrived soon after 8.00am that day and worked almost none stop. They did inform him that to do the installation and get it completed in a day. they must be done before it got dark as there had to be light to make sure that all was up and running.
He had a few bits of fortune. First he was to have Hyundai Solar Panels but they were not immediately available so they fitted Sharp instead. This was good as there is a 25 year guarantee on the panels ans they should be 80% efficient at the end of 25 years. I told him that this was good. He also told me that they assessed that the income from the system would generate over £1000 per annum. He told me that they thought he would be well over 90% efficient. He said that the system was up and running and it did produce .5 of a kilowatt and that was near dusk. He will let me know just how much electricity it produces when the spring and summer months arrive as during the winter period it will not produce too much. At 43+p per kilowatt hour it will produce, this will be a cash generating project. Bear in mind that the price will increase each year in line with inflation.
Overall, he told me he is thrilled with the system and has checked all other equipment that has been fitted such as the inverter and has found that the fixtures were of the highest standard.
The only person who was not pleases was his Mother, she was left shut inside. I told him that this is normal. Her space has been invaded but she will see the benefits, hopefully.
It is my intention to go over to see him next week so I will have an update and a tour of the system. By the way, the sun shone for quite some time today, so he will have some idea as to what it will be able to generate. I am looking forward to seeing the system. More soon.

Quiet times

It has been a quiet period for me, having changed my ISP I am limited to how much I can spend on the net so have not been active lately.
On Saturday my mate rung me up. I had suggested that he contact his electricity supplier to find out how long it would take to get everything completed once he had his certificate.
To be honest, I didn't think he would bother, but contacting them he did. He told me everything and it seems as if it is almost immediate once the supplier has had the notification and certification required.
He then contacted the installer and asked all relevant questions and found out that hopefully they would be arriving on Thursday 17th November and expected to be completed by the following day and that the certificate of completion would be given to him. By the way, I forgot to mention that when he contacted the electricity supplier, they sent him the relevant form, incidentally reached him the following day. All he has to do is get the certificate number and send it off. He told me that he will send it by e-mail and also send a copy by recorded delivery. I hope that all goes well. I intend to go and see him one day next week so see the installation. I am looking forward to seeing it completed.
Last night as I was about to sign in on my blog the phone rang. It was the guy who took over my business in 1997. Yes he still keeps in touch. I first of all asked him how he felt. As usual he told me he was fine, but I know he has had at least 2 heart attacks.
He told me something that I thought I would never hear. His busiest weekend of the whole year was the first weekend in October. Yes it was better than Spring Bank Holiday, which as a rule is far busier than any other week in the season. If one recalls though, the weather was fantastic that weekend. I told him that it was a bonus and that it would have helped him sell a lot of goods that he would have thought he would have to store it until next season. He told me that it was hectic as he was not prepared. Quite natural really as generally most places would be considering to be closing down around that time. I'm pleased for him and his wife that there was a bonus weekend. Mind you, with his condition he is not allowed to fly so I did not ask him if he was going away for a short holiday. I will ask his wife when I next see her. More soon.

Went visiting

Well, this morning was bright and sunny early on. I did something silly. I went and got some plums out of my freezer and decided to poach them. Like I do, I went to do something else. the next thing I knew was a smell of burnt plums in my saucepan. It was a horrible mess and had to dispose of the burnt plums. The saucepan was well and truly in a mess. I managed to get the carbon off after about an hour. Being in the catering business for all those years helped me.
When I was about done cleaning the saucepan, I looked out of the window and noticed that it had gone dull. That was good I thought because the sun would not be in my eyes.
Well I got everything ready including the paint and some carrots. It was then just before 10.00am.
I put my recycling bin out got the car out and off I went. It is only about 14 miles but although there were very few vehicles about, within 5 miles I ran into fog. By the time I arrived at Skegness it had lifted a little.
I rung the bell and my mate came to greet me. He had a few things for me so he suggested that whilst the boot was open he bring them out and put them in the boot. I then was ushered into his home.
I immediately went to see his Mum. She is alert but to be honest is very frail. She was very pleased to see me, she had the oxygen tubes fitted. I must admit, the house didn't feel too warm. Mind you, I do have mine very warm.
My mate then took me out in the garden to show me what he had done. It is me, that has got him to grow vegetables and fruit also.
His greenhouse was looking well. He still had many small tomatoes on. His grape vine was looking well. I was surprised as I had given him a couple of cuttings that my Italian friend had given me. I only kept one and set it. His greenhouse is a lot smaller than mine but he has 2 vines. I suggested to him that he should prune them heavily soon although they are not as advanced as mine are. My leaves had dropped off. His are only just turning. I told him to prune them before the end of December.
After this we went back in the house and I spent about an hour talking to him and his Mum. When it was time for me to go, I shook her hand, it was very cold. I mentioned it to my mate, he just told me that if she got too warm, then she found it very hard to breathe. I hope that she gets better.
We then went outside the front and he showed me where the solar panels would be fitted. He did say that he had heard nothing from them so he was getting a little worried. I told him to contact his electricity provider and ask just how long it would take, from getting the certificate saying it was fully installed and working. I told him that from now he has about 4 working weeks so if it takes no more than a week to get it certificated, then he has about 2 weeks grace. It all depends on first, when they fit the solar panels and secondly, how long the paperwork takes. I will keep all informed. More soon.

Nothing to report

Over the last few days, nothing has really happened. Weather has been dull but generally mild. I also heard nothing at all from the Solar Panel firm. Mind you I didn't expect to hear anything at all considering the attitude of the guy who was doing the surveys.
My mate's mother is out of Hospital but has oxygen and is on it most of the time. I hope that she improves so that she can do without that. I was going over to see him today but he told me the Nurse was there this morning to see to her. I told him that I would go over to see him tomorrow.
I am going for 2 reasons. The first reason is that I can take his Hammerite paint back to him and the second is that he has bought a few things for me over the last few weeks so I will go and pay for them and of course bring them back home.
The update as to his Solar Panels is that on Saturday last week he had a surveyor come and do a complete survey. As far as I know, all is well and he told me that they will have the system installed well before the cut off date of December 12th. I hope that all goes well as he is only 61 so should get at least 20 years of benefits. the cost was a little more than I could have afforded so I decided not to pursue the matter any further. To be honest, I know I would not have been able to generate the 95% that most can. I also know that I would never have been able to get my money back so I am satisfied. Anyway he will, I hope give me the latest update on his Solar Panels. I will pass the latest news on. More soon.

A little sad

Yesterday, I was a little too sad to bother with my blog.
As you know, I have decided to try to have solar power installed. It is sods law I guess. Just as I started to bother, the Government has decided to cut the payments made to everyone who produces electricity through solar power from 43.3p. to 21p. This will come into force from December 12th, this year. My friend sent me an e-mail and later told me that the larger payments would continue until April next year.
Well arrangements were made for a survey to be conducted on Wednesday 2nd. November this year at 1.00pm. Well yesterday morning I had a phone call from the guy who was going to to come and do a survey. He first asked me if I was having a 4kw fitted. I told him I was looking for a 3kw. He then told me he was snowed under and he could not get to me today. He then suggested he could do a survey over the phone. I could see that he was not really interested. Anyway he gave me a quote. I told him that I was not sure that I was acceptable to get enough solar power as I had a large house next door. He brushed it off. I also told him that I wanted a basic system as I did not expect to live another 10 years. He then upset me by stating he didn't believe me. I guess there is no answer to that.
Anyway I e-mailed my friend with the quote he gave me, which was far too expensive for me. He e-mailed me back stating that the quote he received for the cheaper panels was over 20% less than he had quoted me over the phone. So I guess that I will not be getting any solar energy.
I will, naturally keep all informed if something does come out of this. More soon.

Quiet times

The last few days have been quiet for me. Weather wise it has been very warm for the time of year. Over in the Eastern States of America, they have had snow. Not a few inches that we generally get but lots. I feel for all of those who have no electricity. This was caused in general by the weight of snow, which I think was the wet type, settling on the leaves of trees. The leaves had not fallen off the trees so the weight snapped many branches. This in turn pulled power lines down. I wonder if after all this. they will now bury power cables underground. Here in this country they have considered it but they say the cost would be too high. Does this make sense when a million or more people in the USA have been without electricity?. How much disruption was caused to industry also?
Now I have given it lots of thought recently and my mate who generally calls every 2 weeks or so has gone into the solar power installations into great detail. So much so, that I have today contacted a firm with the prospect of me having solar electricity.
On Wednesdat a man is coming to do a survey and subject to my home being suitable and of course the cost of installing solar power. I will make a decision as to whether I will proceed further or not. I will, of course keep all informed. More soon.

T.V in the early 50s

Now I will say a little about the early days of T.V.
As my Mother was disabled, my Father did everything to make her life easier. As he was a normal working class man it was hard for him to purchase a television. I think iot cost 99gns. That is £99 plus 99shillings. 5p.in todays money. A guinea was 31. and 1 shilling. This was about 10 weeks wages for him. I have mentioned it before but there would be some 200 or more houses on the Estate where we lived. When my Father bought the T.V there were only about 6 others on the whole of the Estate that had a Television. He bought it specially for the Coronation of the present Queen in 1952.
The televised live Coronation had been planned for months. To be candid, it was because of this, that the signals were upgraded so that the vast majority of the country could at last receive pictures.
What most people don't realise is that programmes were very limited. Programmes did not start until somewhere around 5.00pm. It was called Newsreel. The announcer would talk about the days news and after that, there would be pictures of yesterdays news.
Outside broadcasts were infrequent and regularly would break down. often there would be a picture blackout. The announcer would then say that there would be a short interlude while the fault was rectified. not for the first time, after an hour of watching a cat playing with a ball of woo, horses ploughing a field, watching a stream. You get the idea. The announce who would not be seen would apologise and say that the BBC was closing down for the night. Anyway, the evening nearly always ended at about 10.45pm.
The first television sets had no other channels. just a switch that turned the set on and off.
I can't remember exactly when Independent Television first started. (ITV) but it would be around 1955. Something seems to tell me that you needed another Ariel to pick up ITV. However this revelation started people to purchase T.Vs and in next to no time, they were in abundance and the majority had a Television.
As for us, we could not get ITV at all. My Father could not afford another T.V just to look at ITV. To be honest though, it made a huge difference to me and my attitude to advertisements. I detest them and if at all possible, will NOT watch anything that has commercial breaks .
What I tend to do with Sky, which is full of adverts. I try to record them and fast forward the programmes when a commercial break comes along.
It would be about 1960 when I was sitting in the Drivers and Fireman's rest room. One Driver was saying to another that he had been watching cricket on BBC2. The other Driver didn't believe him as BBC2 had not started broadcasting . He was then told that it was test transmissions and if he tuned his set, then he could watch BBC2.
I went home and immediately started to experiment. To my delight I managed to get BBC2. Sunday cricket was transmitted every Sunday during the Cricket Season. The team was called International Cavaliers. They played, I think every 1st Class County at their home ground as the Cavaliers had nothing. They were ex test Match players. Not all of course but most. They had a good team. 40 overs each side. Played on a Sunday afternoon between 2.00pm and 7.00pm.
This was really the start of something different to the County Championships which were played every week and they started on a Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. then Wednesday to Friday so you can see there was very little time off.
In those days, most cricketers either signed on the dole in the winter of had a winter job. The odd player went to play professional football. More soon.

Busy and annoyed

Yesterday I had one of those days.
First of all, I went online to order some bird seed. As you know, I have poor eyesight. To be honest it is beginning to concern me. I use a jewellers magnifying glass to see things.
Anyway, I went and ordered this bird seed, unfortunately, I typed in my expiry date 1 year sooner than it was. To my horror, the debit card was blocked. It stated that I must contact my Bank and get it unblocked.
Anyway, I rung the Bank up. That's right, you are in a queue. It took almost 25 minutes before I was answered. When I explained what had happened, the operator was surprised. I went back to the site and read what it had printed out to me. Her explanation was not what I had expected. She told me that I might have to go to a cash machine and unblock the card myself.
I was furious, I told her that in no uncertain circumstances would I be going several miles to a cash machine, incidentally I have never used a cash machine in my life. I informed her that I would guarantee that as night follows day, if the card was not unblocked I would immediately close my account with the Bank.
With this, she told me to try again in about 2 hours.
Well this morning I went online. I forgot to tell you, the site wrote to me asking me if anything was wrong as I had been online and had not proceeded with my purchase. I wrote and explained to them.
Well, as I say, I went back to the site. Once again put all details in and this time it went through up to the point of asking me for a password.
I was astounded as I have never been asked this before and as far as I know did not have one. I put in my security number, but nothing. I then tried 2 other words that I thought would be a password. Correct, the third time, once again the debit card was blocked.
I did nothing more that get typing a letter to the Bank informing them that with immediate effect, I am closing my account and was enclosing my debit card which I had destroyed. I cut this up into several pieces.
I then rung this Company up and explained what had happened. I asked if I could send a cheque and then they could send me the goods. This was readily accepted, so tonight I am sending a cheque. I know this will take a few days but at least I will eventually get the goods. By the way, the total was for less than £40 in total.
I then rung my own Bank main office. I explained that I wanted a debit card but my Branch told me that it had to be activated by going to a cash machine. The lady there informed me that I had a debit card that was ready to use as it had been activated. I told her that it was ages ago that I was sent one, it was the Branch Manager who told me I had to go to a cash machine to activate this. She informed me that this was in 2009.
Well, this sounds as if I have a replacement debit card. God only knows if I have a password. If this is so, then it will be of no use to me at all.. More soon.

Many restrictions

People will forget just how many restrictions there were.
I too have forgotten most. Shops were not allowed to open on a Sunday, the only ones that were allowed were little corner shops and they were restricted in what they could sell.
Public Houses were only allowed to open on a Sunday from Noon until 2.00pm and from 7.00pm until 10.00pm.
I went down to the seaside in the late sixties. there after a local by-law even Fish Shops were restricted to how many Sundays they were permitted to open. I think it was at Easter then from Spring Bank Holiday until some time in September. It was something like 16 Sundays in a year.
Mind you, it didn't just stop with shops. I can remember somebody telling me about Sunday cricket. This was in the early 60s. You could not start a Cricket Match before 2.00pm and you could not charge an entry fee. This was got around by charging for a programme. Mind you this was not compulsory. The Match had to be finished by 7.00pm.
Even today, there are restrictions. Supermarkets are not allowed to open before I think 10.00am and must close by 4.00pm on a Sunday . This stems from the Lords Observance Society. Going back to heaven alone knows.
Will the restrictions ever be lifted? Certainly not in my life time.
Tomorrow, I will talk about early days of the Television. More soon.

Radio explained?

To clarify as much as I can, I must try to explain just how the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) ran. It is what you would call Nationalised. Not that it is run on a political policy. It is, as far as it can be, run independently. I can honestly say, I have never noticed a particular way the programmes have swung to one or the other parties. Yes the Government does or did allocate money for the BBC to run. This included the World Service. We used to have a Radio Licence years ago and there was also a licence needed to have a radio in a car. That was done away with years ago and a T.V. licence incorporated the radio. Now every household that has a T.V must pay £145.50p each year. This has been frozen for 3 years. It does not matter if you only watch Sky, you still have to pay.
Back to the radio. Things would have progressed very slowly had it not been for the Pirate Radio Stations. Radio Caroline was the first. Well there were 2 One was based near the Isle of Man and the other off the coast of Essex. This was followed by Radio London, also known as Big L. Probably the best supported of all. Many other smaller Pirate Stations sprung up. This was in the early 1960s. With the Pirate Stations off shore beyond the 3 mile limit. That is what it was in those days. The Government could do nothing although they tried very hard to stop them.
Remember that the only music on records( that is what they were then) was Housewife's Choice on every weekday from 9.00am till 10.00am and Two Way Family Favourites. This was a forces based programme with the records being requested for Service Personnel in mainly Germany. I think it ran from 1.00pm to 2.00pm on a Sunday. That was it. So that when constant records were being played the BBC realised that something had to be done.
It was eventually decided that the new layout would be. Radio 1 would be on the medium wave. Radio 2 would use the light programme wavelength and Radio 3 would be on the Third Programme slot. It was also promised that there would also be local Radio Stations.
When Radio 1 went on air there was an immediate change of direction. Very little live music. If it was it would be a rock band or perhaps the Beatles would go to the studio and be interviewed and play a tune or so but in general it was all music on records. The same sort of thing happened on Radio 2. The only difference was that Radio 1 catered for the younger generation and Radio 2 catered for the more mature people. As with Radio 1, Radio 2 started to play lots and lots of records.
The upshot of this change was that a lot of DJs that worked on the Pirate Ships were offered jobs on Radio 1.
Local Radio seems to have it's audience but in general, I don't think they have been a great success. Some of them join other local stations at some parts of the day. I hardly ever listen to local radio at all.
At first all the stations were on analogue. now I think almost all are on VHF and of course the new digital, which unfortunately is still not available to all parts of the country.
Next time I will talk about the start of Television in the 1950s. More soon

No friend

Yesterday I rang my friend, he then told me his Mother was not well and he thought of having the Doctor to her. I immediately told him to get the Doctor to her the next day and not to even think of coming over to see me. He agreed so after I finish my blog, I will ring him up just to see how his Mother is. By the way, he is an official carer and she is on the highest amount of help she can get. So I will wait and see how things go.
This morning when I went out to feed the birds, I noticed the bird bath was covered in ice. Not a thin layer but quite a substantial amount. Thick enough for me to press the ice and It did not break at all.
Later I went out and thought I would go to the greenhouse and remove the cucumber. I think I have mentioned it before, but my sight is not 100% and as I took the cucumber plant up I noticed a fully formed cucumber on. Heaven alone knows how long it has been there but I picked it up and put it in my salad box in my fridge. The next thing I removed was my last marrow plant. Although I have had lots of marrows on they were early and so they finished early too.
My green recycling waste bin was emptied this morning so I am starting to refill it again. They come once a fortnight but from the end of November we do not have a green waste bin collection until the following April. This is fine for folks who live in the town but for us in the country, it is sad. What most of us do is have a few bonfires in the winter months. More soon.

Autumn time?

Here these last few days has been rather Autumn like. Mind you it is the middle of October. It does though seem to me that Autumn is a little earlier than the last couple of years.
Looking at my diary of last year, I can see that the fruits were earlier than normal years but it also meant that my runner beans, marrow and french beans have finished earlier than I had hoped. Even the grapes were a little earlier.
My tomatoes were not as prolific as in previous years and unfortunately some tomato plants had blight. This has meant I will be using sulphur candles, hopefully to kill any pest and diseases. I have started to clear the greenhouse and I notice that the odd pane of glass has started to slip. I went outside and inspected only to notice the clips that are fixed to hold the glass in place, well some have broken.
Luckily enough my Mate will be here this week so I will ask him to get some clips that are suitable for wooden greenhouses.
I have not forgotten about my gates either, hopefully he will adjust them also when he comes.
With me changing my ISP I only have free evening and weekends starting at 7.00pm each evening instead of 6.00pm. Incidentally these last few days my connection has been dreadfully slow. Good job I am not downloading films as this would be impossible. I doubt if I am getting 1 meg speed. Still I am connected so that is something I suppose.
Today I went for my State Pension and where I go I have taken a few bits and bobs of fruit and vegetables. To my surprise the guy who I know best came to see me and asked me what tipple I drink. I told him I do not drink as I am a diabetic. He was a little disappointed as he wished to give me something for the things I have taken them. I told him that if he wished he could get me a calendar. Not an expensive one but one with large numbers and easy to read as my eyesight is not as good as I would wish. So with a bit of luck, I will, for the first time be given something for giving fruit and vegetables. Not that I ever expect anything but it is very nice of him to even think of giving me something. More soon.

School Radio

I found this old Radio Times dated 1949. It bought back a memory that most will find it had to believe.

It was the day the late King George V1th. died.

How did we know this you might wonder. Well for the first time in my school life we were going to listen to the radio. I know this sounds corny but it was going to be a first. It was February 1952. It was a Music lesson and for the first time we were going to listen to some music on the radio. In those days there were some lessons on the radio just for schools.

Well the teacher turned on the radio and at first there was nothing at all, then came a solemn announcer saying. "The King is dead". In a very sombre voice then there were 4 low da da da da . This was then repeated, well it was repeated until the teacher turned off the radio. At mid morning break, we all went outside to tell the other schoolboys the news. Most didn't believe us, some stating that it was King George V.th that was dead. Eventually though everybody knew that this was true.

What most people don't realise is that there was no comedy programmes broadcast for several weeks and the music was a sombre selection.

Heaven alone knows what the youngsters would think of this today, most would never believe it.

This is the main reason I have decided to show a page from the Radio Times of 1949. Nothing much had changed in the few years since then and 1952. As one can see, there is only 3 radio stations. The Home Service, the Light Programme and the Third Programme. The nearest stations today would be Radio 2 for the Light Programme, Radio 4 for the Home Service and Radio 3 as the Third Programme.

One will also notice that the content of the programmes are limited. Very little music on records. Now of course CDs. Most music was of Bands in the studios and were live.

To be honest, there was very little of interest to the younger audience. Perhaps that is why a few years later Radio Luxembourg started. Mind you the reception was very very poor indeed. Still it did have popular music that was broadcast, I think every evening from 6.00pm until midnight. Nothing like today when you get music whenever you wish. How times have changed. To be honest, I think this is definitely for the better. I hope you find the bad photograph of the Radio Times informative. Pity my American friend is not on hand to show me how to take a photograph which would illustrate everything. Oh well!. More soon.

Things I think of.

I was looking out of my front door when I noticed a little bit of fly muck. Immediately it bought back to me times of my youth.
We had no electric but we did have gas. In the country lighting was by oil lamp. Incidentally, my best pal had oil lamp lighting.
Anyway during the summer, our home, as was every home, was infested with flies. I have always detested them. As there was no fly spray, the main thing to keep them down was to swat them with a bit of newspaper.
After the war the first thing that came about to kill flies was what was called Flypaper. It was in a tube. The nearest thing I can say to this would be an old film for a camera. You pulled the end of the tube and out came a piece of sticky paper about 18" long. This was not handled as it was very sticky. It was pinned up to the ceiling and after a couple of days had to be taken down because it would be full of dead flies.
By the way, I do everything in my power to stop flies from entering my home. When the odd fly does manage to find it's way into my house, I immediately go after the intruder and I am not satisfied until it is dispatched.
To stop flies from entering, my friend has made a fly screen and fitted it to my outside door in my sitting room. I can then have my door open so as to allow fresh air in without any flies.
Back to when I was young. Not having electricity, mind you there were very few fridges about anyway, all houses had a pantry, also there was what was known as a clod slab. Some were made of marble so it was really cold in relation to other shelves. Some had what you would call meat safes. This was a small safe with a gauze front therefore not allowing a fly to enter. Also in the pantry, there was a window. This was also covered by gauze, or some material like that.
Eggs were put on the cold slab as it was called. Milk in the summer was a problem. My Mother would get an enamel bucket of cold water and stick the milk in that to try to stop it from going sour. More often than not this would fail so often my Mother would ask one of us to finish the milk off as the milkman always called early every morning. Milk would always be on our doorstep before we go up. More soon.

More useless bits

I have always slept alone in a single bed, that is as far as I can remember. Beds in those days were flock filled. The best quality were of course feather filled. Hence feather bed, meaning nice and cosy. It was not until many many years later that spring interior mattresses were introduced.
My bed was a flock mattress, I guess about 3" thick which was over a metal strung base. It was comfortable as I knew nothing else. Beds were turned regularly both lengthways and sideways.
For many years I have never wore slippers. I do have a couple of pairs for emergencies such as Hospital.
I rarely wear pyjamas, it has to be very cold to wear them. I have several pairs at the ready for Hospital emergencies.
I have a holdall at the ready as I have been taken to Hospital several times. I prefer to wear in Hospital a top and shorts.
Something I did notice though when I was in Hospital. If someone is admitted and they have nothing the Hospital give out a pack. This consists of everything you would need, including a toothbrush and toothpaste. I couldn't believe it but it is true.
I have only used an electric razor since leaving the Army. Well over 50 years ago. In general use a Phylishave.
At the end of the War, buses started to run and I can remember several buses called Utility buses. These were in general local buses. In other words buses for local journeys only.
These Utility buses were basic. Seats were wooden. Not solid but thin slatted seats. I don't know if anybody can recall the park seats. But a lot of them were thin slats. I guess each slat would be a little wider than an inch. Although these were basic they were adequate and as my Father used to say. Third class riding is better than first class walking.
Finally the weather these last few days has been poor, dull and wet. More soon.

Paint Job?

Well my friend came on Friday and among other things he bought me some Hammerite paint. He also adjusted the gates so that they fit better. Then it was to getting me online with e-mail.
As always, things didn't go according to plan. He followed everything they told but no working mail.
I should think it would be an hour later that I told him I was once again going to phone their help line regarding internet. The delay was approaching 20 minutes but it was a free phone line.
The guy told my friend what to do and it was not possible to get what they wanted at their end a connection so he tried an alternative approach. This also didn't work. The poor guy on the other end was at a loss as to why things were not working. He even asked us to disengage my security which we did but made no difference at all. After over an hour the guy had run out of suggestions and apologised profusely. I told him to write down that he had failed to get my e-mail working.
My friend then had to go home as he has a Mother who is not well.
It was yesterday afternoon that I decided to try to send an e-mail to another of my web sites that I have e-mail. This was sent successfully. I then sent to my default e-mail a message which I received. I then decided to send my friend an e-mail giving him the latest news and hoped he received it.
This morning I went online and sure enough I had mail, so after all my e-mail is working.
Anyway on Saturday morning I decided to paint my gates. It was cold and windy. Much paint went on the block paving and quite a lot on my hands. As the paint got cooler it became more difficult to apply. My poor eyesight doesn't help either. I get so exasperated at the lack of decent vision. It doesn't help when it comes to painting gates. I tried my best and I think they will do.
What I intend doing is publishing photos of the gates, with a before and after look. This will not be for at least 10 days as my friend will not be here to finalise the adjustments to make them look as good as they possibly can. More soon.

Before I forget

I have just had e-mail for my American friend. I love getting mail from him as it is always interesting and if I ask any question it is fully answered .
It was something that he wrote telling me that he was bought up in a time of poverty and his parents went to buy clothes at thrift shops. I think over here we now have similar shops and they are called Charity shops.
Well almost all of the younger generation will have no idea but sugar was delivered to the shops in I think 1cwt, sack. 112lbs for those who are not familiar with the old weights in other words approx. 50kilos.
Well my Mother used to get a sack once it was emptied, boiled it up and then got transfer prints and print these patterns on the cloth and embroider the cloth. It was then used as a table cloth. Yes almost everybody used tablecloths in those days. More about tables soon.
My Mother also embroidered in the same way runners on the occasional table and also anti mocassas. Those things that used to cover the head of a covered chair or arms , they saved in general three piece suites from getting dirty as the covers could be easily washed.
Like my American friend, my Mother was great at knitting, in general she used to knit either jumpers or pullovers. Incidentally, I still have 2 jumpers that are in good condition.
Like most tables, they were scrubbed tables made I think of pine. They used to come up so nice when they were scrubbed, at least once a week. As I say, most had this sort of table.
Well my Cousin who lived on the same estate about 7 doors away so I used to go to see him very often. I am going back not to I guess 1045 when the war was more or less over. I would go and see if he could come out and play. We loved cricket. So much so that he made a bat out of a piece of willow tree and I used to go down to the fair and try to pick up any balls that were around. Not ordinary balls but the wooden balls that you were given when trying to win a coconut. Either at the shy a coconut booth or more than likely, get a ball in the bucket to win a coconut. They were ideal size for us as kids to play cricket. I made a pair of pads out of old rush matting so that if the wooden ball hit you, it didn't hurt.
I digress so back to the table. My Aunty had a table just like ours but to me it had patterns round the edges. Well one day I asked my Mother why couldn't we have a table that is patterned like hers. I was told and this is the honest truth. The patterns were caused by them smoking and leaving their cigarettes on the table and this was because they had forgotten them. I still find it hard to understand even to this day. It was true because on close inspection, I noticed that the burn marks were not even. Mind you every inch of space on the table had been used.
Finally, my friend called today, fixed the gates so that they fit better but most of all bought me some black Hammerite paint so it looks like painting tomorrow. More soon.

Wearing out

I must tell you this, my best pal called to see me yesterday. I was surprised as he had told me last time he called that it would be mid October before he came again.
Anyway he came down, told me that he had his hearing tested and had been to the hospital for a consultation and was advised that a hearing aid would help him.
Well we have discussed the subject on hearing, me with my sight and teeth too.
I then told him that this happened the day before. The phone rang and answered it. I honestly thought the voice on the other end said. " Registrars here can I have a few words?". I was somewhat taken aback. By the way it was a woman with a Scottish Accent. Well I told her that it would be alright and then said to her "Did you say Registrars Office?" The reply came back. "NO, British Gas." I broke into fits of laughter. I couldn't stop laughing for about a minute. When I recovered my composure, I suggested that she could have a laugh with the others in the office telling them who I thought was calling.
My pal laughed heartily with me and suggested that I also should get a hearing aid. I told him that I was at the surgery, clinic dentist and Hospital far too often already and didn't want anymore.
I then reminded him that my eyesight was poor. I have cataracts in both eyes and I am losing all of my calcium and now only have 4 of my own teeth left.
Talking of sight, I had my flu jab today. I thought I would get everything organised so went there about 5 minutes early so that when I booked in I would be in good time. I also bought my appointment card.
Everything went to plan until one of the assistants asked me who was giving me the injection. I told her and know her well. I couldn't see here anywhere, I asked one of the assistants where she was, she was bent over and when she stood up, I immediately saw it was her. I was surprised but said the right thing. "Chris you've dyed your hair, I didn't recognise you. It makes you look a lot younger". Of course she was thrilled to hear that from me. Is it my eyes? or is it that I am getting older. No comments please.
Just one thing about my younger days.
As I told you before I went to a Secondary School. From Whitsuntide, which fell 6 weeks after Easter, we had swimming lessons in an outdoor pool. Council owned and open to the general public. In general though we went in the morning so it was rare to see anybody else there. Please remember that Easter could fall in the middle of March and so Whitsun would be 6 weeks later. As it was half term a weeks holiday was taken so that swimming lessons could start in early May. The coldest water temperatures we saw was 56F. Your balls seemed to shrink and lift near to your mouth. It was dreadfully cold at times. I wonder if they would allow it these days.
The swimming lessons continued until the Summer Holidays. It was the same with Cricket. This also started after Whitsun until the holidays. I can understand why my Mother was not prepared to go without just to buy me white flannels so that I could play cricket. Mind you, she knew it was my favourite game, but that is how it was in those days. More soon.

A little more

When we were young the war was at it's worst. Street lights were not turned on. Naturally the lights were gas. They had a little pilot light so there was no need for a lamplighter to be used.
It didn't stop me from being a lamplighter when I worked on the Railway. Everyone had to take turns in working in the Time Office. all you was really was an errand boy, taking out tickets to the fitters and doing menial tasks like that. When it got dusk, you would be told to turn on the lights. About 5o% were of gas, the remainder were electric. A few switches turned on several lights but generally electric lights were single switches. To turn on the gas, we had a long pole with a hook. Not hard but if it was very windy, tricky.
I don't know if anybody has seen an old phone. The one with a mouthpiece in the centre of a board and an earpiece that is attached to a cord. Difficult to explain but we had several of those phones in the loco. This by these were used throughout the 1950s. Mind you almost all of us never had used a phone before except in a public phone booth.
Going back to street lighting. If one used a torch at night, it was just a pencil torch. I was frightened to go out in the dark as it was DARK. One has no idea how dark it can be on a moonless night. On more than one occasion people have got lost trying to find their way home.
I can't remember ever going out alone in the darkest of nights. To be honest, there was nothing to go out for. The A R Ps were I think in charge of making sure that there was not a chink of light showing from your home in the dark nights. If a chink of light was showing, there would be a bang on the door and inform you that a light was showing. It happened just once to my Mother. She immediately went to see where the light was coming from and rectified the problem. I think, but I am not certain that all homes were issued with black out curtains. It sounds dreadful now but it was the norm. We were bought up to this, as was never throwing away things that might have a use.
Almost all now know nothing of the measuring of feet. This was done to see if your feet were of sufficient size to qualify for extra clothing coupons.
This charade was done at school. I call it this because I have small feet. Now I have size 7 shoes, yes that is I think the smallest size, It used to be 6.
Well we were called out at school to have our feet measured. Not quite as you think but it was a mark from the skirting board. Each of us would stand with our heels touching the skirting board. I always hated this because I knew that I had no chance whatsoever of having feet large enough to qualify for extra clothing coupons.
By the way, I am small, when I was measured and weighed for the Army, I was measured at 5ft 7 1./2" tall and 112 lbs in weight. As one gets older one shrinks. I think I was 5ft 6" when I was measured for an operation. They use this for the amount of anaesthetic they administer.
Enough rubbish for now. More soon.

Just bits and bobs

I don't know what bought this to mind, well actually I do.
I was on the toilet today and I foolishly bought a special pack of a well known brand of toilet paper from ASDA. Yes, you have guessed it, the paper is so thin that ones' fingers just go through it.
Anyway I was looking and noticed that I had as old Izal paper toilet paper. It must be 20 years old but it is similar to a paper bag.
I immediately went back to my days at infant school. If one wanted to go to the toilet we had to ask for a piece of paper. there was no toilet rolls in any of the toilets as this was in the early days of the war.
The teacher would go to a cupboard and get a piece of paper, screw it up and roll it in a ball working on it to make it as soft as she could before handing it out to the child.
Would the youngsters believe this happened in the 20th. century?
Almost every home had a button tin. When clothes were discarded, naturally it was beyond repair, buttons were cut off and put in a tin.
My Grandfather would take clothes if he thought they were of any value. He would cut them up and make peg rugs. They were dreadful rugs, dirt traps as they seemed to attract every bit of dirt and kept it trapped in the rug. No hoovers in those days.
All of the woolens and pyjamas were used as either dust cloths or dish, or floor cloths. All woolen knitted clothes were pulled down and knitted up again. Mind you, the wool had lost it's pile and looked like a modern machine knitted acrylic jumper.
In our home we also had a tin for paper bags. I am sure that we would not be the only home that did this. It was a system that we all got used to. Nothing was ever thrown away unless it was completely beyond any use.
we also had a greased paper tin. Lard, marg and butter papers were saved. These were used for steamed puddings, spotted dick and other puddings that needed to be wrapped in greased proof paper.
String was saved, wrapping paper, especially brown paper wrapping. when the shoes were gone completely, the laces were taken out and saved. It is difficult to explain to anyone who has not been bought up to economise just how little was thrown away.
Next door had a few chickens which she had to give so many each week to the Ministry of Food. Well when she had an egg, the shells were put in the oven to dry and when cool they were broken into little pieces and given to the chickens as grit.
It is these funny things that I think of every now and again. Nothing is elaborated, all is true.
Tomorrow I will try to think of other things that come to mind. More soon.

Names

It was while I was thinking of one day at the kiosk that the names came to mind.
This man came in with a young child. He was carrying him as he had a broken leg. I guess the lad was only just have learned to walk as I guess he was a little over a year old. Well in passing I asked the man who was carrying him what his name was. He replied it was Mustapha. I immediately retorted. " Oh my god he will have his leg pulled a lot when he gets older." I had a woman who worked for me there at the time, she had to leave the kiosk because she couldn't control her laughter. She also had bad asthma and she told me later she felt ill because she was short of breath with laughter. The man who was carrying him also saw the funny side.
Talking of names took me back to my youth. We lived on a private housing estate. Now I guess it would be run by a Housing Association. Anyway my Father whenever he saw this man would call him Seppi. I plucked up courage one day to ask him how he got the name Seppi. He explained that his real name was Septimus. He was called that because he was the 7th child. He then told me something I had no idea of. My Aunty Ena as I knew her was christened Guyena, this was because she was born on Guy Fawkes day.
It was when I left school and worked on the Railway that I knew this man called Chris. He told me that his proper name was Christmas as he was born on Christmas Day. I didn't know whether to believe him but some other man told me this was true.
There were a few names that were unusual. One was called Austin, his brother was called Ruben, another was Earl and one was Isaac.
I think tomorrow I will talk once again of some odd things of my youth. More soon.

Gates.

As promised I have published a picture of my front gates. As you can see, they are not square. To be candid, I am sure they have never been square as I have not had them closed until recently .

I know they require painting and I am waiting for my friend to go to Boston as I have given him a £20 voucher to be spent at Homebase. We have no Homebase store near us at all.

I am a little worried though because the guy who came to see me regarding my change of LPG supplier. Well he wrote a circular stating that he expected LPG prices to increase and suggested that we top up at todays prices. He gave us the alternative of e-mailing him. This I did. I also mentioned in passing that my gates had been freed and was waiting to paint them. He had pointed out when he called that my gates spoiled the look of my property.

I did thank him for making me get off my backside and get them freed.

He wrote back stating that when he passes by he would take a good look and give me his views on the looks. He has a caravan in the nearby town so I guess he will be passing by at some time.

Still, I can't make my mate go there immediately. All I did say to him last time he called. "Don't wait while there is several inches of snow, or freezing weather, as I don't want to be painting the gates in the winter." Whether it will make any difference, I doubt it.

Finally, the weather here has been fantastic these last few days. At 5.00pm today, the temperature was over 24c. Hotter than most places in Europe. I know it won't last but at least it is saving me on fuel. More soon.

Medication

Yesterday my medication was delivered as usual by a very nice young man. He has begun to stop and tell me a little about his life. He is married and his wife is expecting a child, he is beginning to fret a little, I told him that he wasn't the first and told him not to worry.
Anyway the conversation turned to computers, I think I told him I had just changed my ISP.
He then informed me that he had taken City and Guilds examination on computers and thought he would try to work for himself repairing and helping people who were having difficulty with computers. He told me that he couldn't make it pay. For several reasons he said. First was that if their computer broke down, they expected you to be there immediately, also he said that a lot of them were rude.
I tried to explain just how the old and young do not mix with technology. I explained to him that I had nothing to do with computers until I was in my 60s.
Anyway he told me he was getting rid of some old tower computers and a few portable T.Vs. I told him that I would ask my friend, who was like him quite good with computers if he wished me to take them off you. If he did I would ring him up and confirm.
I rung my mate up and he told me that he would have them, if there was nothing then he could dispose of them. I duly rung him up and informed him that my mate would have them.
Tonight around 5.30pm the door bell rang, it was him with his wife who has about 2 weeks to go. She wanted to see my garden as he had told her all about it. I showed her round and gave her some beetroot, a few runner beans, a cucumber and a few tomatoes. She was impressed. I showed her how asparagus grew into large ferns. I told her that when her husband bought some plants, I would tell both how to grow them and when to harvest them.
Originally, he had told me he was going to take her to a local farmers who produces and sells Ice Cream. Unfortunately they were closed. Mind you she had a few bits and bobs to take home.
It was late last night when I thought just how much things have changed since I was young.
Like 99% of people we had no telephone connection in the home. There was always plenty of public telephones around. Substantially built red in colour ans very small. It cost two old pence to make a local call. Upon lifting the receiver the operator would ask "Number please". You would give her the number and she would then tell you she was connecting you. If there was anymore to pay she would ask for the amount to be put in. If it was a local call. She would say "You are through". You then pushed button A and you were then connected to who you wanted to talk to. You were allowed 3 minutes then you were cut off. If however the number you asked for did not answer, the operator would tell you and then you pressed button B and your two pence was refunded down by a chute.
As anybody who has read all of my blogs will know that I went into business in early 1969.
There were very few lines available and I was on a party line with the local fish shop. Mind you, I can't remember if there was an operator at the exchange requesting the number you wished, or you could dial direct. I somehow doubt if you could dial direct in those days. More soon.

New ISP

Now to my new ISP.
On Thursday I went online and could not get a connection. Well as I had trouble with my provider before, I just closed the computer so as to try again about 2 hours later.
It was just the same so I decided to ring my provider, she informed me that I had cancelled my internet connection.
I again went online, this time was a page from Plus net my new provider. It just stated that there was no broadband.
I decided to call Plus net. The guy was very helpful and asked me to do several things, all of which were of no use. I informed him that I might have not done all the connections right. I went next door and asked the man there if he knew anything about the internet. He told me he would come round and look. This he did and told me that all looked in place.
I decided to ask my friend in Skegness if he could come and help. He unfortunately had no transport readily available so I told him I would go and pick him up.
Off I went to get him, there were several road works along the way. Unfortunately I could not immediately find his home but eventually found it. He showed me a quick way to miss most of the traffic. That was great so we arrived a little quicker than it took me to get to his.
On arrival, we once again turned on the computer, at first things were just the same, he went to check the connection and immediately I told him the main page from Plus net had altered. It now stated it was gathering information. This according to their welcome pack was to take up to 15 minutes.
After 30 minutes, I told him I was going to ring their help line. Once again a pleasant guy called Andrew was there to help us. When we informed him what had happened, or what was not happening, he told us not to worry. I passed him to my friend and to be honest it was simple. He told him what to type in and after about 15 minutes we were online.
Not altogether simple as it should have been. Andrew told us that this sort of thing does sometimes happen. anyway I am once again online.
I then had to take him back home, by the short cut way so I managed to get back soon after 5.30pm. I had travelled over 60 miles fetching and taking him . It was the time not the travelling that made me a little sad. The good thing now is that whenever I travel to Skegness, I know of a short cut to miss most of the traffic. More soon.

New ISP

New ISP

Friend called

I must say that on Friday, I think it was, I had a new ISP. However more about that later.
My friend called and I had a few things I wished him to do.
The first was to look at my Rose Arch. He only confirmed what I suspected, that is the arch is damaged beyond repair. I was a little sad because if anyone decides to look at old posts, I am sure there is at least one of the Roses. Well on Saturday, I finally decided to dig the rambler rose up. A lot harder than I imagined but I did eventually manage to remove the main root. I took a cutting last year and so when we have the Autumn rains I will try to transplant the rambler at the boundary so that it will grow through the trees.
The second job was to get him to swap the old VCR, he had bought one and it was no good at all. This one is much better although it will not eject the tape by remote control. Not a disaster.
The third job was my rear gate, His brother assisted him with this work. I was at the dentist. When I returned the gate was fixed but it was not fitted well and was very hard to close. Anyway he decided to sink the hinges. Now I must admit, it is great the gate closes brilliantly. He also adjusted my spare bedroom door so that also is now perfect.
Finally, I asked him to look at my gates, yes the ones that would not close. I will take a photo of them. One hangs a little lower than the other. He thinks they can be adjusted. Mind you when I get my Hammerite is anybodies guess.
As for the new ISP, I will tell you more about it tomorrow. More soon.

Friend called

Friend called

Brother-in-Law

I have never spoken about my Brother-in-Law before but I have never rated him. Mind you I am not married to him and never in a million years would I wish to.
The first time I was told of his antics was when he was introduced to my Parents, at one stage my Sister who he was courting just said to him. "Lie down and I'll fan you". With that he lay down on the floor. My Mother was shocked. He was a son of a Policeman but was not intelligent at all.
He was the only child, had everything he wanted and was rather greedy and very selfish.
As anyone who reads my blog will know that many many years ago I worked on British Railways first as an engine cleaner then as a Fireman. It was as a Fireman when this incident happened.
I was always at work on Christmas Day, although as a rule there was nothing to do. I can honestly say that all my working life on the Railway I never had Christmas Day off work. We generally went to work at 6.00am and although we were supposed to finish at 2.00pm we often left work about 1.30pm.
It was the first Christmas that my Sister and her Husband were invited to Christmas Dinner, we call it that because that is how we were bought up. Dinner at dinner time, That is at about 1.00pm.
As I was at work, my Brother in law called Dennis offered to carve. I don't know why because he had no idea how to carve meat. In this case it was a Turkey.
Well he cut the meat after a fashion, mine was put on a plate and put to one side. After he had put the meat on all of the plates. He asked if everybody had got enough. With the answer of yes. He then put the remaining meat on his plate. I am telling you as my Mother told me. She was astounded.
When I got home she was full of it and told me that no matter what time I got home on Christmas Day, the Turkey would be left until I was there to cut the meat up myself. This was implemented from that day until I left home.
We found out that he was greedy too with other things. He was at a wedding and his drink is rum. He took the bottle and it never left his side until it was empty.
Mind you some things happened to him that he did not think was funny but my Father laughed heartily when telling me.
They went one day to a sort of zoo. There in the place was a parrot. There was a sign warning folks not to get too coled to the parrot as it had a liking for buttons. Dennis, thought there would be no problem so he went close to the bird. All of a sudden the parrot bit off one of his buttons on his jacket sleeve. "Bugger me" he said "All I did was stand like this". With a sudden move the parrot had the other button off. My Father couldn't stop laughing. His wife, my Sister was furious with him.
The other occasion he was put down was when they stopped at a country pub. My Father and Dennis went in and the rest sat outside. My Father ordered the drinks and Dennis got a tray and started to put the drinks on the tray, not without trouble it may be told.The owner saw him struggling and shouted. "Just a minute, just a minute. I've met clever buggers like you before. Dennis just left the pub, he couldn't stand anyone telling him straight. My Father was again in stitches when he arrived at the table carrying the tray of drinks. More soon.

Duties completed

Well, that is the end of my duties for now.
I get up this morning and went round to open up and let the chickens out. To my surprise their car was on the drive. I thought about turning back but I thought that while I as there I would let the chickens out anyway. As I walked towards the garage, there pinned on the garage door was a note asking me to open up and feed the chickens as they had decided to travel late last night instead of this morning.
I duly let the chickens out and fed them, I noticed that the water was very low so I went hunting round for something to carry water in. I finished up in the greenhouse, there I found a watering can. This did the trick and the chickens were looking forward to plenty of drinking water and several had a good drink. I checked to see if there were any eggs, no I am sad to say. Yesterday, I also collected nil but in general I collected 6 most days.
It would be a few hours later when there was movement next door. I went round to give them the garage key and checked to see if they had read the note from the taxi driver. They told me that the young lad, who was going to college wanted some overalls. She asked me where I had got mine from. I told her the Railway about 50 years ago, I then suggested that they look for an Army and Navy store. That is if they still exist. I also suggested that they look online for overalls as that generally have a next day delivery. Her partner was looking in the Yellow Pages and informed me he had not yet checked the internet. I think it would have been my first port of call. Anyway, I left them to it wondering how long it will be before the young lad starts his travels to Boston College.
By the way, I told them I had taken 4 eggs and immediately was asked if I wanted anymore. I told them that that for me was plenty. More soon.

Ex neighbour called

I was only thinking of Linda, my ex neighbour last night and this morning she called to see me. I asked if she would like a few runner beans and she told me she would love some as she had missed getting them from me.
I told her I was looking after the chickens for next door. Well only letting them out in the morning and feeding them. I then pop round in the afternoon to give them a few meal worms.
Yesterday morning, I guess it was well before 8.00am. I was at the garage and getting the feed for the chickens when I heard a car blow his horn, I turned round and this taxi driver was winding his window down he asked me if I could help him. I informed him that I was only a neighbour feeding the chickens. The taxi driver then told me he had come from Boston and was checking where to pick up next week. I asked him if he meant taking the young lad to Boston College. He affirmed this. I then told him that I had been informed that he was going to college about 3 times a week. I also told him that he was disabled. I did not tell him that he was mentally, not physically disabled. He told me he knew this. With that he left. A few minutes later I thought I heard someone calling me but as I am hard of hearing I was not sure. True enough though, it was the taxi back again. He asked me if they were on holiday and when they would be returning. I told him that next Monday she told me that they were coming back. He looked surprised as he told me he should be picking the lad up next Monday. As he had to also pick someone up in Alford, there would be no point in coming up the coast road if there was nobody to pick up. He then wrote a note and asked me to see if she would contact the taxi company immediately she returned so that arrangements could be made to pick the lad up.
I was left in some sort of a daze. Here we are supposed, that is the government is supposed to be cutting costs and here we are having a taxi service to take a lad to Boston College. There is a bus that takes all the young students to Boston College every day. It also brings them back in the evening.
I tried to work out how much it was costing the tax payer. A taxi form Boston to Alford, a journey of around 35 miles. That is around 140 miles a day. Boston to Alford and then back to Boston College, then the return journey in the evening.
I wonder if it is me or has the government got it's priorities wrong?
As for Linda, she has been house hunting since she left and has now found a bungalow and hopes to move in within the next 2 weeks. Once she has settled in she wishes me to visit her. Of course I will do, although I don't visit many people. More soon.

Winds

It makes me realise the power of Mother Nature. On Tuesday evening I was checking my site when there was a sudden rush of wind. Nothing like anything I have seen before. We had the tail end of the hurricane that struck the eastern side of America, but that seemed to have passed. It was quite disconcerting but it soon passed. I just though how lucky we are in this country not to have such events as severe earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes.
On Wednesday morning I looked out of my window and noticed what I thought was damage to my rose arch, thinking that the rose had been blown from the arch. Not a bit of it, the arch had been ripped out of it's securing and was damaged, I think beyond repair but my mate who will be here next week will either confirm or deny this.
Now to the chickens. I am collecting eggs, about 6 daily and the small wicker basket is almost full so I don't know exactly where I will be putting the rest. I do not have any egg boxes. I suppose I will find somewhere. I get up and open the chickens and feed them. I think it is the neighbours Mother who then shuts them up at night. I have not seen anybody though. They do not get back until Monday so there will be plenty of eggs for them. More soon.

Just a little

My postman called a couple of days ago and informed me that a letter was required to have a surcharge of £1,36p. I asked him what it was all about as I had never had this happen before. He told me that it was happening more often. He told me that it was perhaps a large letter which had been incorrectly stamped. Well after some deliberation, I decided to accept the letter.
He told me that he had nothing to do with the letter as it was held back and he had not seen it but he would go back and ask for the letter and it would be delivered the next day. I told him I would wait in to make sure I was there when he came.
Yesterday morning he duly arrived. He had another letter too but the one with a surcharge was from my Bank. I told him as much. He then looked at the envelope, it was blank except for my name and address in the window box. Also in the top left had was the private and confidential note.
So it cost me £1.36 because it had gone through and had not been franked. I just said to him that I knew banks have been having a bad time of it, but didn't realise that It was that bad.
I gave him a few more grapes, a little small and a few hazel nuts. Off he went and it was about 5 minutes later when I realised I had not paid him the surcharge. Luckily enough he had only gone about 50 yds, I shouted to him and he reversed. I laughed and told him I had completely forgotten about paying him. He just remarked that he thought I had not the right money, anyway he told me he knew me so he was not worried.
Later I went to get my pension and went to a place where I get my skimmed milk. To my surprise I saw they were selling grapes. These were obviously home grown. I was rather pleased as they were small. A little smaller than mine. More soon.

Nuts.

During these last few days we have had some windy weather. Not might I add as windy as it has been today but sufficient wind to cause lots of my hazel nuts to drop off the tree.

I thought that the first ones were blind. That is to say, there is no fruit in the not but this was not the case, Anyway on Saturday I decided to pull the rest of the nits off the tree. With the husks there was almost 5lb of fruit. After I took the nuts out of their outer casing, there was still well over 4lb of nuts. I found it back aching work collecting the nuts, not much better taking the nuts out of the husks, it was not easy and took me about an hour to remove the husks. Now I have lots of nuts just waiting to be opened, using the nut cracker.

It bought back a memory of I would guess 25 years ago at least.

I don't think I told you, but my late Mother was disabled. It happened overnight when I was about 12 years of age. She went to bed and during the night her leg seized and after many months she had her leg straightened and stiffened. It went a little withered so she had to wear a caliper. Mind you, after a while stopped wearing it.

Anyway she used to come to mine after the school holidays, mainly to see the regular holidaymakers who would call every year.

She loved to go nutting as she called it. She could not walk well but she was happy.

This September day I told her that we would go nutting. I had been there to see if there were any nuts and there was the odd hazel tree.

It was off the main road,I guess it was a B road, if there was a C road it would be in that category. Well I took her up to the verge and helped her out of the car we then started to look for nuts, we had found about a dozen or more when this Porsche 928 came along. I was surprised as this seemed a deserted road, behind the car was an elderly man riding a bicycle.

As the car drew nearer I noticed that it was driven by a woman. She almost came to a stop, giving us a glare that was unbelievable. She then very slowly drove off. This cyclist came along and then said. "She thinks she rules the worrrrrrrrrld," as he rode by. We both bust out laughing. We managed to find a few more hazel nuts and back home we went. My Mother was thrilled to be tasting once again fresh picked hazel nuts. More soon.