Nine Feet Underground

A day that passed by in a flash. Before the main morning carer call NRS came to service various bits of equipment that the carers use for E. The carers arrived not long after the engineer left, and hot on their heels a delivery of continence things for E. Over lunch I watched a few episodes of 'Happy Valley', finishing the first series and starting the first of the second series. As the evening approached, son #1 and I raced around the house working out the sequence of radiator warming as a prerequisite to attempt to balance the radiators.  Now that we have worked out the sequence I'm now going from radiator to radiator adjusting the outflows accordingly.  Once complete I tested the radiator in my office. initially it didn't seem to make any difference, but then gradually it started warming. Success! It actually bloody worked. I'm preparing for starting my course 'Ulysses For All 2023' and remembered that 'Finnegans Wake' has references to 'Ulyss

A very slow start to the day, even slower than a typical Sunday.  Sometimes it's just good to wake up slowly. Usual chores, only more so, because of yesterday's walk.  Despite the backlog, I intend to finish the papers and also 'Reservoir 13'.  One interesting prospect is testing/trying out my new espresso coffee maker.  I had to buy it because of the wonderful Costa Rican coffee I've been given. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Over lunch I finished the second episode of 'Happy Valley' (series 1). I am coming to the conclusion that it's very poorly named, even perhaps a violation of the Trades Description Act (1968).  Happiness has definitely been in very short supply, and, given where the story is heading (or seems to be), I don't think there's much prospect of any happiness in the near future. Time for a trial of the new espresso machine. I'm going to read the papers accompanied by coffee and Snickers (the chocolate bar, no

I'm already back from shopping and now I'm getting ready to go for a walk in Middletonia with schoolfriends. After walking we're planning to grab some lunch and then back home for chores. What chores? I'll have a pint, please. Time has flown and I'm running late, but off to meet up for above-mentioned walk. It's late afternoon (is it? what's mid-afternoon? what's late afternoon? when does evening begin? I have my own understanding of those terms, but I wonder if we'd agree?) and I'm home.  Five school friends (including me) enjoyed a wonderful walk along a route chosen by one of the team. (Thanks for organising the walk and the meal 😄). This is a semi-regular event, but for various reasons I've missed the last three or four. On this occasion it wasn't possible for Q to join us, but hopefully next time she will. The fresh air, exercise and company were great. A great way to spend a Saturday. Sons 1 and 2 are going up to London tonight for

The weekend is almost upon us!  There is only a day of work between me and the weekend. It's been a relatively quiet day and work is now done. I ate dinner alone and watched the end of the Spike Milligan documentary I'd recorded (two in quick succession!) After it had finished I was joined by son #1, and we watched the second episode of 'Everyone Else Burns'.  I'm starting to get into it, and can see a few themes developing. Went to bed and read more of 'Reservoir 13'. The end is in sight. (Look away, look away) Late chat to Q and then descent into sleep, with any luck. Foals / '2am' / 'Life Is Yours' [[ ] ]

It's Australia Day today, though that is something very controversial these days.  Many people refer to it as 'Invasion Day' now and there is a movement for change which is gaining momentum.   Son #1 is off to 'work' for the third and final day this week whilst I'll be working away at home.  He's been really good at time-keeping and learnt some valuable lessons. I am proud of him and the progress he's made and continues to make. I haven't written much about E of late, mainly because there's been little or no discernible change.  She still has the cough, less often, but it seems stable.  She endures the life she continues to lead, which is not much of one really. It's Idler drinks night and the guest is Irvine Welsh, of 'Trainspotting' fame. He's a fascinating guest and lives an interesting life. He's an advocate of microdosing to stimulate the creative process, and is the first creative I've heard say that. Lot's of ne

Our cleaner swapped days this week and came today instead of tomorrow.  Consequently, I'm up early, which was just as well as the first carer of the day arrived first, before 7 and before our cleaner. Work will dominate the day, so the usual rules apply. The post delivered a pleasant surprise in the form of the latest issue of the occasional journal 'Strange Attractor ', which describes itself as 'presenting more high weirdness from the margins of culture.'  What's not to like? Over lunch a friend in Berlin and I have a catch-up, the first of 2023.  We both decide we're not speaking frequently enough and have agreed to try and speak more often, but for less time (yeah, right!) Lunch made for son #2 and I, time to eat it quickly before a decorator arrives to estimate for a quote to paint the ensuite, the last step in its renewal. Not a big job, you might point out, but life's so busy I don't get the time, and frankly it's like watching paint dry.

Tuesday is my new Monday, which means the start of my working week. There are still a lot of things to fit in today that I didn't manage to organise fully yesterday. This week's poem is by John Keats, and it's an extract from 'Endymion' containing a few well-known lines. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing A flowery band to bind us to the earth, Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth Of noble natures, of the gloomy days, Of all the unhealthy and o`er-darkened ways Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all, Some shape of beauty moves away the pall From our dark spirits. The opening and ending lines are especially powerful.  I have a book of poems from both Keats and Shelley, which I always think of as 'Sheets and Kelly'.  I wonder what s

Not working on Mondays has been extremely beneficial for my physical and mental health. Having a day I can spend in whatever way I see fit is very liberating.  I try to get all the chores done at the weekend (sometimes) and leave Monday free to do...whatever. Today, however, I do have chores to do as I was away at the weekend. Chores primarily being washing. As usual. After lunch, I take sons 1 and 2 to the dentist which gives me a good opportunity to chat to each of them separately and discuss progress on changing the way things work around here. I think the team is getting there, but there's more to do. We're back!  That was a useful hour and a bit. Son #1 needs to return some clothes via a local store pickup point. I suggest we walk together and he seems to like the plan.  One on one time is precious.  We walk via the woods, which he reckons is quicker, not to mention more scenic than following the roads.  Luckily the rather low temperatures means the normally muddy route is

Woke up this morning and found I'd forgotten about £20 million I had in one of my bank accounts.  Silly me. How careless. I'd better let the tax office know before the end of the month. On a more factual note, I am driving dahn sarf later today, but not before a cooked breakfast.  Q is also baking cinnamon swirls/rolls/scrolls (take your pick) for me to take home for me and my sons.  In a spirit of fairness, Q is saving some for her daughter's return at the weekend. A little after midday I'm 'booted out' (😂) and load my car ahead of my journey. I have supplies, including a chocolate and almond croissant.  It is a hard life. I'm home!  What could have been a nightmare journey, was actually quite reasonable, though it is way colder (and foggy) around here compared with 'oop north.  As I left Liverpool the SatNav indicated my journey would take an added 65 minutes. No sooner had I got used to that idea (and the expectation that the M6 would be the problem)

We've decided we're going out for the day, probably to North Wales, but we'll decide en-route. Q picked up breakfast (pastries and coffee) from the local bakery and then I drove to Tesco to fill my car up with diesel, not quite to the top though, otherwise we couldn't breathe, obviously. On the way out of Tesco petrol station we decided to head for Rhyl, as neither of us have been there.  We ate breakfast on the way and left the A55 for Rhyl. Well, what can I say. E has previously told tales of the place, not very positive tales and now I've seen it for myself. Q said it reminded her of Margate.  I'm sure there must be somewhere nice there, but we didn't stop to find out and instead headed along the coast to Conwy, and in particular Conwy Castle.  I have never seen so many caravans/mobile homes in my life. The contrast between Conwy and Rhyl couldn't be greater. The castle is impressive and we decide to grab some lunch before doing the full tour, in the

When we woke up this morning, the snow had all gone. Work will dominate the day, so I probably won't have that much to say. Q got home from work later than planned and so we decided to have some Chinese food delivered.  Great food from a restaurant we'd not tried before. We decided to watch a Netflix series called 'Treason', or at least the first two episodes before heading for bed.  We're planning to go out for the day tomorrow, not sure where yet. Rialto / 'Monday Morning 5.19' / (Single) [[I heard this again a week or so ago, after quite a few years. I have the single somewhere in my collection.  It has a certain world-weary melancholy about it. ] ]

There's still snow on the ground, but no more has fallen.  Time to start work now. Mid-morning there was a heavy, but brief, hailstorm but after that, the skies began to clear and the sun emerged. I got an unexpected surprise as I was about to break for lunch: Q returned in order to post a parcel and return a couple of packages. I decided to accompany her on the walk to the shops to get fresh air and exercise.   The Post Office visit was fruitless as it turns out it's still not possible to send parcels abroad via Royal Mail as their international parcels system is still down after the recent cyberattack.  It could be sent via Parcelforce for a mere £47.  Q declined.  On a whim, we decided to head for Zara's Hub for lunch, which made an enjoyable change.  We both walked back to work, our paths deviating at the last minute. Back to work. This evening sees the return of the Idler Drinks, with several guests present to discuss the re-publication of 'The Right To Be Lazy'

Another cold start (a phrase that takes me back to CICS OLTP, which probably means nothing to 99.999% of humanity) and also another working day. Project work has been turned up to eleven with the obvious consequence for this blog:  not much I can write about. My brain cell is very warm as a result of a lot of design thinking, but now the working day is done and Q has returned from work.   There's not a huge amount of classical music that floats my boat, but Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' ('Le Sacre du Printemps') is a piece I do like.  I caught the end of a TV recording on BBC 4 of the piece which reminded me how much I like it and thus I did listen to it today. We're having chicken enchiladas for dinner, where n is a natural number greater than one. Great dinner!  After which we finished season 2 of 'Bloodlands'. The ending was good, though I fear they have left the story open enough that there could be a third season. My biggest bugbear. A TV se

The day begins and there's still snow on the ground, not because more has fallen, but because it's cold here. It is, of course, the first working day of my week and this will restrict what I can write about here.  Not much is going to happen outside of work. Threading its sinuous path through my day has been the 'Freak Zone' which has featured the Cosmic Jokers wonderfully wild album 'Galactic Supermarket'. Darkness descends as afternoon wends it weary and windy way towards evening and Q returns to work just before my day finishes.  It's been quite a day for old grey cell. Dinner is on and we watch another episode of 'Bloodlands' and return to finish that episode and watch another.  There are only two episodes remaining and the depths the main character sinks to in this episode match the Mariana trench. We have an interlude where I learn about university finances and how they work.  It's pretty scary and I fear for the future of higher education

All change!  I go up early to finish packing for the trek north towards Liverpool. There are a bunch of things I must coordinate before I can go, not least a visit by NRS to service E's bed and hoist. I'm done packing (but not roaming) and am ready to leave.  Time to say goodbye and head off via a small detour to pick up a coffee and sustenance for the journey.  It looks like it's going to be cold. I've arrived. Unpacked the car. Settling in. Q is at work, so I'm going to read more of 'Reservoir 13'.  Momentum. Keep it up. When Q returns from work, I discover that it's been snowing! I arrived here under blue skies with no cloud in sight; now it's overcast and snowing. Once Q has put some dinner on we head out to the shops to get food for the week ahead. While we're in the shops the snow returns, only heavier. When we get home, we're glad to get inside, settle down to eat, and then watch another episode of the second series of 'Bloodlands&

Sunday's for lie-ins, or at least this one is! The usual mix of chores and chilling awaits me, but I'm taking my time. Sunday morning evaporated in a mix of breakfast (almond croissant, mmmmh), washing and organising for tomorrow. I watched a programme I'd recorded about Spike Milligan whilst eating my lunch with a view to reading the papers afterwards. Before starting the papers I decided it was time to try out a solution (a gel, in fact) to remove the discolouration caused by mould.  It was one of those crazy purchases from somebody must have ideas they want to flog to solve problems you didn't know you had. I've had for six to twelve months, I just can't remember.  You have to apply it, retire to a safe distance (untrue) and leave it for two to three hours. Which is exactly what I did. Back to the papers while the gel works its magic. I've finished the papers, so I move onto the novel ' The Silent Patient '.  The end is in sight! Shiver my timbers

The weekend is properly here. I get up for 7 ahead of the first carer visit and then get ready to go shopping. My shopping trip was enhanced by the return of the Bread Girls, lots of chat, bread and pastries. Whilst I was out I heard from Q who was on her way back from the airport having dropped her mum off for her long flight back to Perth via Singapore. Home for chores invigorated by my conversations. I do love talking with people. After having my head examined last week, I got a letter from the doctor summarising his findings and advice. Two pieces of advice stick in my head (😜): I should wear a hat all year round and I should also cover my bonce in factor 50 sun screen, i.e. white paint, effectively, all year.  The idea of wearing a hat all year is exercising my mind. Should I go for a beanie, a baseball cap, a fedora, a deerstalker, a pork-pie hat, a fez, a cowboy hat, a bowler, a straw boater, a beret, a cap (a la Andy Cap), or something else? Answers on a postcard. Boring chore

It may be Friday 13th but I don't think it's going to be a scream. There's some admin I must slash my way through and plenty of project work to be done.  My morning is almost back-to-back with meetings, so let's get on with it. Bring it on! After indications earlier in the week that E might be about to get an infection, she seems to be stable and there are no longer any negative signs. Back to my normal state of alert. Work is now over for the week, and with any luck I'll be working from a different location next week. Fingers crossed. Sons 1 and 2 are off out for a curry with friends tonight, so I'll be free to do as I please.  Son #2 had recommended this YouTube debate on masculinity: "Be A Man”: Modernists and Traditionalists Debate Masculinity | VICE Debates , so I made time to watch it. Some interesting opinions, worth watching if you have 40 minutes or so to spare.  In the event, I'm feeling lazy and microwave some Chinese food and watch TV, befor

Got up even earlier today: the cleaner is due and I'm off to hospital to have my head examined. I start work early so that I can get organised for the day whilst I'm at the hospital, but all too soon my carriage arrives and I'm off to hospital.  I'll probably have a wait, so I've taken one of several books I started last year and didn't finish (😲😲😲). I'm back from the hospital and it's good news, my head has been examined and all is OK. On top of that I've made a bit of progress on 'The Silent Patient' and am motivated to finish it.  Right now, though, it's back to work, and earlier than expected. Wow! E is running out of her anti-seizure medication and we need some more fairly urgently.  I've been really fortunate again in that a good friend has got the request processed and dropped it around this afternoon.  I (and we) really appreciate it.  I work a bit later to catch up on this morning and after a brief break, switch to dinner-

Got up early again, and it was slightly easier.  I shall soon be used to the wheel again. Apart from work, not much else happened today. E's carers have noticed a few small changes in her, so we're keeping a closer eye on her, though nothing serious enough to call on the community nurses. When E starts getting an infection, the changes in her are almost imperceptible, and so it is a case of close observation for the next day or two. Work is now done and I'm really back in the swim. It's going to be a busy month or three. After a chat with Q I did some tidying (it's bin night) ahead of son #2 making dinner. Son #1 and I watched Miriam Margolyes in Australia over dinner (she is in Melbourne and other parts of Victoria in this episode) before heading for bed. Bibio / 'Fire Ant' / 'Ambivalence Avenue' [[ ] ]

The day has finally come. After something like three weeks away from work, I must return today.  Despite yesterday's later than planned start, I managed to get up on time. Even though I've had three weeks away from work, I've managed to remember my passwords and even what I was working when I finished in December. That's an achievement.  There are, however, lots of emails and lots of admin as well as project work. Pig's bum. The working day is over. Now a break before making dinner. I manage to arrange dinner at a decent time for the second day in a row and eat it with son #1 while watching the end of the quiz we started yesterday. Q's out for dinner with the incoming VC at a very good local Italian restaurant (the chef was on Masterchef The Professionals, FWIW).  The food is great, so I guess she'll be late(r). Spoke to Q before heading for sleep, by way of the weekend papers.  Patti Smith / 'People Have The Power' / 'Dream Of Life' [[ ] ]

I'm getting back into normal waking times gradually, starting today. I guess the motivation wasn't great enough as I don't start work today, and so I only got out of bed when the first carer arrived, despite having set the alarm for half an hour earlier. No big deal, but need to do better tomorrow. After breakfast, and a series of unhelpful phone calls I headed to the garage to get AdBlu added, as I'm running on the reserve and have been doing a fair bit more mileage of late. In addition to additional AdBlu (10 litres being added), additionally, I also asked them to top up the screen wash while they were at it (which is a tricky juggling act at the best of times!) Additional screen wash now added, they added up the bill and the addition of additional AdBlu and additional screen wash came to very little. This all added up to a successful start to the morning.   As I was out and about already I headed home via the car wash place as my white car wasn't white at all, bu

A later start, mainly because I need to get packed and return 'home' today and I don't want to go. My target is to leave at around midday, though that's not set in stone. Q and I had breakfast and were joined by her mum.  Scrambled egg on toast followed by toast and marmalade.  Need to get organised, sadly, and so I continue. Packed, car loaded and time to say goodbye. Q's mum returns to Australia at the weekend, so I'll not see her again for a while. It's been good to get to know her, and we'll hopefully meet again at some point later this year. I'm home. The roads were unusually quite and I did the journey in just over 3 hours, including a stop to buy lunch, coffee and take a break inspired by a call from nature. Unfortunately on my return I was greeted by coloured lights, and so my first task was to bring Christmas to an end with the help of sons 1 and 3. Son #3 made dinner (sea bass and play it), and son #1 and I watched TV while we ate. Time for

We're having a chilled day before heading off to Manchester this afternoon for an early evening meal with Q's friends. Q's at the hairdressers first thing and when she returns we change the wiper blades on her car and pump up all four tyres ahead of tonight's journey. Time flies and it's suddenly time to depart for Manchestaaa. We're back after a fun evening.  We went to a funky burger restaurant in the northern quarter and the food was good as was the company.  Q and I had the last of the Christmas pudding before heading for bed on my last night ooop north. UNKLE / 'Sunrise (Always Comes Around)' / 'The Road, Pt. 1' [[Features the wonderful Liela Moss on vocals, who has a new album out imminently ] ]

Today is the day of E's dad's funeral. I'll be speaking at the service on behalf of E, the boys and me, along with E's brother, who will deliver the eulogy. Dressed up and ready to go. Q is accompanying me. She met E's dad and her brother and sister-in-law last year and has been welcomed to the event. I will probably need the support too. We're back, via a quick stop at the shops to grab some cheese and bread. How did it go? I have to confess that I find funerals very emotional and my emotions were especially heightened, despite telling myself I'd keep it together.  Funerals, especially of E's family members, are triggering for me.  Part of me is always at E's funeral, though it's not happened yet. E's brother put it succinctly at the wake, he said, 'you are almost grieving all the time', and I guess I am in the state much of the time. The service was good and E's brother's eulogy captured the spirit of his dad well. I fluffed

It's the real thing today - Q's unofficial (?) birthday. Everyone except me got up very early to take Q's daughter to the airport, while I stayed in bed sleeping. Once Q and her mum had returned from the airport and had a little more rest, I got up and got ready before we made breakfast.  Time for cards and presents before heading out for the day via the shops.  A quick visit to a retail park to return/exchange some items followed by a drive to the Wirral for fresh air, walks and lunch. We got back late in the afternoon and settled down to watch 'Knives Out', followed by 'Glass Onion'. Overall, I still think 'Knives Out' is more tightly written and plotted, but after watching 'Glass Onion' a second time, I felt it was better than on my first viewing.  Watching two films in one day like that is almost unheard of, but we did break them up by having some party food nibbles and some Christmas pudding (today's lunch was late and filling!)  Tim