A couple of wins

 TP disappeared shortly after nine o'clock this morning to head over to get further acquainted with the Kawasaki Versys, apply L Plates and head over to the Driving Test Centre in Worcester.

Today's primary objective was to get the lawns mowed in advance of our Narrow Boating mini break over the Bank Holiday weekend.  Overnight showers meant an early start was not going to be possible, so I spent the morning on various minor distractions, including the removal of about 10 days of stubble from my chin.

TP called at about half past eleven to let me know that he had passed his test and sincere congratulations were offered. Some parents might be horrified about their children riding motorcycles, but I find myself in a difficult position.  I have ridden motorcycles, in one form or another, for close to 45 years. It would certainly be hypocritical of me to attempt to dissuade TP from riding, but I want to put on record that I am, of course, concerned for his health and safety. 

I have ridden with him on many occasions including the purchase of hist first 125cc Yamaha to the day I let him have a quick run out on the Ducati 996.* He is an incredibly safe rider with great observational skills.  I hope he has as much riding pleasure in the coming years as I have had.

Lunch happened and then the porn mower  was dragged from the shed. I should add, at this point, that the porn mower really needs renaming since it is now 13 and the passing years are starting to show.  I have a new ride-on Stihl mower, but the ground is still way too wet for that beauty, so the porn mower** still gets used on a regular basis.

The lawns here are close to half an acre and it took most of the afternoon, with a couple of breaks, to get them cut. I checked my step counter after they were done and realised that I had walked close to 6,000 steps and covered at least two and a half miles. I was quite surprised by those statistics, but I do have a healthy cynicism of the output accuracy of the Google Fit app.

As the afternoon became the evening, I headed out on the R nineT and dropped a set of keys off with Bubbles. Bubbles and his good lady; Bobbyn are house sitting for us this weekend and, not unusually, our holiday preparations are veering towards disorganised and last-minute.

The final event of the day was a trip in to Redditch to see Andy Parsons Bafflingly Optimistic tour at the Palace Theatre. It was a reasonable gig with the occasional incisive comment that shows what a skilled performer he really is. Despite being knackered after a lot of mowing, both 30% and I thoroughly enjoyed this mid week outing.

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* Sold back in 2021. Not forgotten, but not missed either ... it's probably my age!

** I need the exercise.

Green is good?

 The past couple of days seem to have been mostly consumed by my BMW R nineT. 

It's a convoluted tale, but I will try to be as concise as possible. TP has an A2 motorcycle license* which he has held for many years. He now wants to upgrade to an unlimited A class bike license. This involves repeating the Mod 1 (off road) and Mod 2 (on road) tests on a higher powered machine.

He took a training course earlier in the year, passed the Mod 1 but, unfortunately, did not pass the Mod 2 test. He therefore needed to repeat the Mod 2 test but did not have access to a training school fleet of bikes for the test.

He had already arranged to borrow his mate's Kawasaki Versys 650, which is a little on the tall side, so I asked if he wanted to try my BMW for size. He agreed that this was a good idea, so Monday saw me wander out to the garage and attempt to start the bike. 

None of my bikes had been ridden for at least 18 months as I spent 8 months of 2023 virtually housebound with a spinal condition. The condition is currently in remission, so one of the post-retirement priorities was to get some miles ridden on two wheels.**

Apologies! I digressed. After 18+ months the BMW had a flat battery, despite connection to a trickle charger. There followed an hour of messing around and reading instructions before I simply removed the seat and got an alternative charger connected up.  I also rang my favourite local Motorcycle Dealer/Workshop and got an MOT provisionally booked for the following day, subject to me getting the damned Teutonic beast to start.

The rest of the day was punctuated with visits to the garage to check on the battery charging progress, as indicated by the plentiful, but unintuitive, indicator lights.

Tuesday dawned and I wandered out to the garage to check on progress. I saw multiple green lights on the charger and hoped that this was positive news. A little before nine o'clock I grabbed my helmet, jacket and gloves and wandered out to urge her in to life.

It now gets a bit anticlimactic from here on. The bike started easily and the ride over to the workshop was a delight. Within 40 minutes the test was passed and I returned home to "throw a bucket of water at her" as she was pretty grimy after more than a year in a dusty garage.

TP appeared later in the day, the bike was taxed and we took a ride out to see what he thought. After much consideration he decided that, despite the lower seat height, he would use his friend's Versys.  He said he loved riding it, but found it way too powerful for riding during the test.***

We later realised that the BMW has almost twice the power of the Kawasaki and getting on for three times the grunt of TP's Honda CBR 500. It's no wonder he found it a bit of a handful.

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* Machines of 47 bhp, or less

** I had already got my Moto Guzzi Stornello back on the road at the beginning of April for a three day, retirement celebratory bike tour of Wales with TP and his chums. Unfortunately the Guzzi falls in to the A2 power category and was of no use for TP's test

*** I'm glad I made him endure the hell-hole that is Evesham at the point that Prince Henry's High School releases its students in to the community. The normal chaotic traffic was now at a standstill and low speed crawling was needed to manoeuvre through town. This carefully selected route was certainly using the bike under test conditions.

Lazy Day

 I woke to the sound of rain and discovered that it was bloody cold. The low temperature was reinforced when I accompanied one of the dogs* along the lane for a few yards so he could b) empty his bladder and a) take note of which of the local foxes had visited over night. It was effing freezing!

The miserable weather did not encourage me to get busy and I had a really lazy day. I caught up with TP's news from Thailand and generally mooched about the house doing very little. I extended his knowledge of classic Sci Fi by making him watch Galaxy Quest. He had never seen this little gem and agreed that it had lasted well and was well worth watching.

I then proceeded to have a snooze on the sofa, before waking and deciding that I had definitely had enough of the chilly weather. Kindling was gathered, matches were located ... eventually and a fire was set in the log burner in time for 30%'s return from a shopping trip.

I was appointed head cook this evening and was responsible for rustling up a smoked salmon and pasta dish for dinner. It was judged a success and the ingredients and recipe are outlined below for anyone that might be interested.

Smoked Salmon with Pasta (serves 3)

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• a good glug of olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• button mushrooms, sliced
• a slug of white wine (half a glass)
• 1 - 2 tsp of dried thyme
• 100 g smoked salmon, sliced in to thin ribbons
• 200 ml double cream
• 6 - 8 ounces of pasta
• salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Put a frying/saute pan on a medium heat and add a healthy glug of olive oil
2. Add the chopped onions and stir regularly to avoid browning them
3. After 5 minutes, or so, add the thyme, mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook on a medium heat for a further 5 minutes.
4. Add a healthy splash of white wine or cider to deglaze the pan and allow to simmer until most of the wine has evaporated off. This should take about 5 mins
5. Add the sliced smoked salmon, stir though and remove from the heat
6. Meanwhile cook the pasta and drain. Return the pasta to the pan.
7. Add the onion, mushroom and salmon mixture to the pasta and stir in well.
8. Throw in the cream and stir to warm through.
9. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

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* Sans coat and hat

I've still got it.

 Today was the day that TP flew home after a month in Thailand. He has spent the first two weeks of his trip travelling solo before meeting up with three of his friends for the final fortnight of the holiday. We have had the odd message and video call with him over the past month and are really looking forward to catching up with him.

I needed to pick up the traveller from Evesham station at 4.30 p.m. this afternoon so, for once, actually had a scheduled appointment that I needed to keep ... more on this later.

The weather is unseasonably cold at the moment and each time I ventured outside I returned wishing that I had donned hat and coat. As a result I spent the first part of the morning pottering* before I steeled myself, put on the aforementioned hat and coat, and headed out with the dogs for a walk. This took longer than expected due to conversational interludes, including one with the Milky Bar Kid who asked me if I was still interested in joining their Game Shoot. I confirmed that I was, but I'm not counting my chickens** yet.

Back at home we lunched before preparing to head out.  Yesterday 30% had asked what time we needed to leave home to collect TP if we popped in to Alcester for a couple of items, then headed over to The Valley at Evesham before arriving at Evesham station at half past four.

She looked at me in incredulous disbelief when I said we needed to leave at half past two. "That's way too early!" she exclaimed. I had barely got two sentences in to my analysis of the journey elements and shopping duration estimates before a look of fatigue passed across her face. Instead I settled with the more concise "remember that I have spent a good chunk of my working life estimating how long activities will take".

30% accepted this with good grace and, unusually, she was ready to leave home at 2.30 sharp. As we headed in to Alcester I pointed out that my estimate included contingency, grabbing a couple of items from Waitrose and I had also factored in twenty minute for a coffee and cake at The Valley.

Well! The afternoon panned out exactly as I had estimated and we arrived at the station 5 minutes before TP's train pulled in ... If I say so, myself, I always a bloody good estimator.

It was lovely to catch up with TP, despite his jet lag, and we look forward to more of his travellers tales as soon as he has got some sleep.

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* Looking busy, but achieving very little

** or rather pheasants

Getting stuff done.

 My plans for today weren't particularly arduous.

I put a batch of honey on to warm after breakfast and then headed out with the dogs for a walk. 

The walk was timed to perfection and I avoided both the pre-work walkers and those that perambulate after dropping their offspring off at school.  We met no-one and enjoyed the bright, but still cool, morning.

On our return I gave the honey a stir and judged that I had time for a coffee before it would be ready for decanting in to jars. Towards the end of the morning I had bottled the first batch of honey and made preparations to process the last of the 30lb tub,

I put the last batch on after lunch and continued my project for the ELF.  I won't go in to detail at this point, but it involves some rather beautifully figured oak disks combined with clear epoxy resin. This afternoon's activity was to set up a level platform that would ensure the resin sat evenly across the surface of the oak. This was more complicated than expected as also needed to ensure that the platform was leak proof and could be covered to prevent dust falling on the surface.*

I eventually got the platform arranged to my satisfaction and then carefully applied masking tape to the oak to retain the resin. It was then a matter of measuring out the resin and hardener, mixing them together for an eternity and then gently pouring the resin on to the wood.

I then offered prayers to various gods in the hope that the resin would set bubble and dust free.

The rest of the afternoon was spent bottling the last of the honey** and tidying up the various implements and receptacles used.

While all of this was going on 30% had nipped out to visit a friend and agree provision buying duties, as we will be spending the early May Bank Holiday with her and her husband narrow boating in Staffordshire ... That is highly likely to meet the definition of a booze cruise if ever there was one! 

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* The resin has a 72 hour set time and any dust falling on the surface will adversely affect the final appearance.

** Four jars have already been purchased from the little stall outside the gate. I only need to shift another dozen before I enter the wonderful land of profit.

Bloody Rodents!

 Thursday started with the continuing task of processing the bulk load of honey. 

I have a 30lb tub of semi solid honey that needs to be warmed, but not too much, so that it can be poured in to jars and sealed. This involves a Bain-Marie technique to avoid overheating the honey and damaging the flavour. Our slow cooker is the tool of choice, but I am limited to batches of about 5lbs, so this is going to take a few days to complete.

After putting on the first batch to warm, 30% and I headed over to a local workshop to drop off the Defender for its MOT test. I had gently woken the beast on Monday, after its Winter hibernation in the car port. It rumbled in to life relatively easily and all seemed well, but a test run down the road showed a fault with its ABS and traction control systems. The brakes were fine, but the ABS wasn't kicking in.

I alerted the chap at the workshop to this fault and he seemed unperturbed and advised that he would look in to it.

The remainder of the morning was spent on honey bottling duties and, shortly before lunch, I received a call to advise that the Defender was ready for collection. 30% and I headed out in the early afternoon to pick it up. 

The chap at the workshop advised that "I had friends" and lifted the bonnet to show a rodent nest in the vicinity of the brake master cylinder. It seems that the little fuckers had chewed through the ABS loom as part of their nest building activities. He had rectified this electrical fault for a very low charge of £30 and advised that, once fixed, the Defender had flown through its annual test with no "advisories".*

Back at home, I pottered around the house and garden for the rest of the afternoon and took the opportunity to steam clean the Defender's seats. These did not look their best after 6 months in the car port and a blast of steam followed by a wipe over with a towel seems to have spruced them up quite nicely.

This evening I was joined by "Bobbyn" for a walk around the Three Miler. On most Tuesdays and Thursdays, for the past few months, she joins me after work and we walk together in a vain attempt to improve our fitness. She brings her three terriers, who enjoy the rural scents and I think she enjoys the opportunity to vent after a long day in the waste management industry.

In the evening 30% and I stumbled across Allelujah, a film adaptation of an Alan Bennet play of the same name.  It was rather good with a cast of some of Britain's finest acting talents; Dench, Jacobi, Jennifer Saunders. 

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* Unlike last year when the inspection suggested that I should keep an eye on the rusty front springs and the condition of tires which are still the original fitments from 2009!

What day is it?

 After reading yesterday's Journal entry I realised that I had barely hinted at the reason for resuming The Journal. 

The main reason is that I now have the time. I know I have plenty of activities to fill my hours with a large garden, three dogs, motorcycles etc*, but I used to feel guilty for grabbing a few** minutes from my working day to recount the previous day's activities, trials and tribulations. Now my time is my own and this is something that I can to do without a trace of guilt.

Now to the main purpose of today's entry ... Anyone who knows me really well will know that I don't have a great grasp on days and dates. I have no problem with the time of day, but ask me the date and I would need to check a calendar and I can be vague on what day of the week it is too.*** 

Working meant that I needed to remember, or at least confirm, what day and date it was to ensure that deadlines were met and meetings attended. Now I am retired, a task or activity can be done at any time and there is much less need to schedule. 

I don't need to wait until the weekend, and hope it isn't raining, to dig over the vegetable garden. I can do it today if the weather is fine. 

Another significant reason for resuming the Journal is therefore to help in anchoring me to the Gregorian Calendar. I am pretty certain that without some form of calendrical discipline I would rapidly go feral and end up like one of those Japanese Soldiers that were posted to, and abandoned on, a remote Pacific islet and still think it is 1952.

I also think that it will give an element of structure to my day, which may be beneficial.

I'll finish by giving a quick summary of today's activities. 30% disappeared early to spend the day with The Coven watching a matinee of Jesus Christ Superstar in Birmingham. This left me home alone bottling honey.

We finally sold the last of the 2022 bumper crop**** a couple of days ago. Our little roadside honey stall does quite good business, so with no chance of a honey crop before August I approached a local beekeeper to ask if he would permit me to bulk buy from him and sell under my own branding. He was more than happy to oblige and I have made a start on clarifying, filtering and bottling 30lbs of local honey for resale from the doorstep.

This wasn't an arduous task, but it did require my attention throughout the day. When not involved in stirring or sterilising jars, I did head out on the Three Miler with the dogs for a constitutional.

Now the more attentive reader will note that there is no mention of a 2023 honey crop and there is a good reason for that, but that can wait for another day.

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* I suppose I had better add family to that list too!

**"Few"! If only Dantes Nine Circles of Hell and The Neat & Today Piano Movers knew how many of their hours I had wasted jotting down this rubbish.

*** I can definitely confirm that it has a "y" in it, if that helps.

**** Over 260lbs from 5 hives

How to begin ... again!

It's a good job that I don't hold my breath when pausing for inspiration. As one of nature's procrastinators, I would have expired many, many years ago! Breathe Bad Man, breathe. Here I now find myself, almost four years since I last posted in the Journal, wondering how to begin ... again?

Shall I note down the long list of excuses for not posting, attempt a summary of the past four years, or shall I just start wittering about my trivial achievements of the past twenty four hours? 

It is probably best if there is an explanation ... 31st March 2024 was my last day of work ... probably! After thirty nine years in a variety of roles, I finally decided that I just really didn't want to do it any more. I realised that I had no problem in finding something to occupy my time, and many of the things I wanted to do were being put off to sit in front of a corporate laptop waiting for something to happen.

As 30% noted, I actually gave up work for Lent as it was on Shrove Tuesday that I politely advised my current employer that "their role did not meet my expectations", gave them a calendar month's notice and did as little as possible until I sloped off on Maundy Thursday.

I have to admit that I had a huge amount of support from 30% in making this decision. She has been semi-retired for a while and finally gave up her last part-time job at the beginning of December, last year.  She dutifully warned me of the challenges I was likely to encounter, particularly regarding identity and income, based on her own experiences. All I can do is see how the next days, months and years unfold to see how I am impacted by this new stage of my life.

The Neat & Tidy Piano Movers* also deserve a special mention in my decision making process. In April last year, they advised that me, my colleagues and our manager were to be made redundant at the end of June. Fortuitously I was approached on the very next day by a Recruitment Consultant asking if I was interested in an exciting** opportunity. I took the bait, polished up my CV and sent it off. I also took advantage of The Piano Movers financial planning benefit for employees over the ago of 55. 

The Piano Movers generously part fund the services of a Financial Advisor, so 30% and I spent many hours collating financial information and submitted it for the scrutiny of an FA who had been recommended by a friend.

Whilst this was going on my application for the new job was progressing and I appeared to be making my way through their interview process successfully.*** 

Now let us jump forward to early June and my final interview with the prospective new employer. That day was a busy one as 30% and I also had our final assessment call with our Financial Advisors. That call came first and they uttered a phrase that I will never forget, "You don't need to work Bad Man".  

Now it has been said that there are two types of people; those who live to work and those who work to live****. I am most definitely a person who has worked to live and this utterance from the FA was accompanied by the proverbial choir of angels singing exaltations in the background.

I suppose I should add that I landed the new job but it is fair to say that my heart wasn't really in it and it turned out to be the complete antithesis of its description during the recruitment process. I stuck at it for nine months but, in the end, I decided that I would rather be free from the home office to do things that please me and others rather than pick at bloated carcasses of IT outsourcing solutions in an attempt to make them palatable to customers and suppliers.*****

I am now nearly a month in to my retirement and have never been so busy. 30% and I celebrated her 60th Birthday with a few days at Llangennith on The Gower, I have constructed a mini desk for the back bedroom and am currently working on a little project for The Elf.

I can already confirm the utterance of so many retired people, "We don't know how we found the time for work"!

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* Courtesy of The Simpsons 

** It wasn't exciting, but the salary was reasonable.

*** So successfully that after perusal of my CV and interview #1 I was offered a more senior role and more money.

**** There are also those who prefer to rely on The State to live

***** I didn't actually mind working on the solutions, it was that I had had my fill of the endless and inane Corporate Bull Shit.