When Harry met Sally

Bank Holiday Monday - the last one this year until Christmas Day. I woke to find the weather drizzling rain with a heavy fog/mist. No gardening today it seemed. I hoisted the Trinidad and Tobago flag (being their Independence Day) and made tea. I caught up with the BBC's Football League programme on the Internet and breakfasted on bread and marmalade. I had a fairly lazy morning but did manage to do some weeding later when the weather improves. Sara and I went through some old compact cassettes of music deciding which to keep and which we could donate to a Church Premises Fund sale later in September. I also set up a new printer/scanner/copier for Sara's and my laptop as the existing one has been jamming frequently. The replacement had new sophisticated software which needed downloading, but the result is a marked improvement and is altogether a neater and more attractive piece of equipment than its predecessor. Tonight we watched When Harry met Sally with a glass or two of French Cava. The New Year sequence at the end reminded me of my feelings on New Year 1995/1996. A great turning point in my own life. Now writing this blog at 12.40 a.m. whilst Sara repairs my Royal Arch apron for tomorrow night's chapter meeting in Salisbury. Tomorrow will be the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany which sparked off the Second World War in Europe.

A Morning in Cleethorpes

I had a lovely lie in this morning after a late night watching Hornblower yesterday. Mum provided a breakfast of cereal and toast with fresh coffee. She later asked me to have a look in the loft to see if there was much stuff up there and I discovered a small hole in the roof which will need patching. I dropped in on Aunt Mim and Harry J in Cleethorpes and got a lovely welcome as usual. Mim made us coffee and Harry J joined us a little later having travelled by bus from Isaac's Hill. We chatted about the match and Sara's new life following retirement. Harry J confirmed that the Titan's factory had now closed after over 50 years. no longer will the white plume of smoke trail over Grimsby. A landmark gone although I suspect the plumeless chimney itself will remain for some time as it is used as a landmark for shipping. Both Mim and Harry looked really well but Harry still has problems with his right hand following surgery. I stopped off at Tesco's on the way back to Mum's and bought her some flowers and a couple of Sunday newspapers. Lunch was chicken casserole with mushrooms, potatoes and cabbage - very tasty, followed by strawberries and "sticky milk". I said my goodbyes and set off back for Winterlsow at just after 2 p.m. returning via the M180 and M1. The traffic was quite light but there are so many roadworks with speed restrictions which meant I didn't get back until 7 p.m. - a 5 hour journey which is reasonable but certainly not the shortest time. After a cup of tea and a brief chat with the family to hand over their presents (Mary's vacuum cleaner didn't work and will have to go back to Grimsby) it was down to the Lion's Head for the Pub Quiz. There were five of us and so we split into two teams - Klynn and Chris in one team, and me, Jeremy and Richard in the other. We ended up coming fourth and Klynn's team sixth. The winners this month being Max Buttimer, Cynthia's son and his team "Four at the Bar". Sara and I chatted for a while (I also updated my blog site) before turning in at around 1 a.m.

Down the Mariners!

I was woken by Mum’s cockerel alarm clock at 7 a.m. this morning but went back to sleep until just after 8 a.m. and then dozed, not getting up until 9 a.m. Mum cooked bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, washed down with a mug of tea. After breakfast I drove to Blundell Park and picked up my ticket for this afternoon’s match against Aldershot Town. I also bought Tom a new Mariner’s shirt and then went into McDonald’s to use their wi-fi to post yesterday’s blog and check on my emails. Returning to Mums, we then went out again to Ron Ramsden’s where I got some cash from the Post Office and we bought lottery tickets as well as a few little presents for the children. We returned back to Mum’s via Marklew’s Fish and Chip Shop where we bought lunch – two haddock, large chips with scraps and mushy peas – yum! A conversation was in progress between Glen (the owner) and a customer on the topic of some dreadful disease which is prevalent in Grimsby – which I believe from the description was motor neuron disease. After our lunch Mum dropped me off in Brereton Avenue and I walked the rest of the way to the football ground – she driving on to Scartho to play bowls with her friend Joyce (she won 31-1 apparently). The match this afternoon was truly dreadful. The Mariners lost 1-2 and showed very poor form. Their goalkeeper was Tommy Forecast on loan from Southampton who seemed incapable of keeping the ball out of the net and the rest of the team constantly tried to avoid passing it back to him. Southampton themselves were winning their match at Stockport until 20 seconds before the final whistle when they let in an equaliser! The loss of 2 points could be critical. The end of the match at Blundell Park was also disgraceful. A full scale fight broke out between the players with, seemingly, every player getting involved except Tommy – he didn’t seem to want to get involved with anything today! Two Mariners’ players, including Barry Conlon, their top striker, were red-carded and will face a three-match ban. On top of the mounting injury list, things look really black for Grimsby Town. A new song has found its way onto the Blundell Park terraces – Que sera sera, what ever will be will be, next year we’ll play Salisbury, que sera sera! Quite appropriate for me! This evening I took Mum for a drive around the area – up to Immingham past Titans factory which seems to have stopped production again – no white smoke belching out of the tall chimney – and past Steve Chalke’s Oasis Academy at Immingham. We drove through the Brocklesby Estate of the Earl Of Yarborough and on to Waltham and eventually onto Cleethorpes seafront. Mum cooked steak for dinner and we watched “Meet the Fokkers” and “Match of the Day”. When Mum went to bed I wrote up this blog as a word document for posting tomorrow whilst also watching “Hornblower”. Neither of us won the lottery this evening, by the way!

Along the Fosse Way to Lincolnshire

A varied day today. Went into the office in Salisbury first thing and worked through until 1 p.m. apart from a quick trip to the bank to pay some money in! Beginning of the month and all that! Attended the Christian Union meeting where we studied Philippians 3. In fact the whole of this Epistle would be a really good one for us to study at House Group as it really does deal with the issue of how we should live our ordinary lives as Christians - how we can show we are Christians to the outside world and display the standards which we aspire to have. After the meting I tidied up and went home having decided to take the afternoon off as holiday. Sara returned home at around 3 p.m. telling me of the problems which she had had with the bank over a payment she had made to the Canadian provider of Club Penguin an Internet club which Mary had subscribed to. This small payment to a Canadian company had alerted the bank's fraud squad! Her card had been blocked and this then caused difficulties over a payment of a new cooker she is purchasing in the UK! I guess we should be grateful for the high level of security displayed by the bank but the need to phone people in, yes you've guessed - India, just adds to the stress. The bank had old phone numbers too which made it impossible for them to phone and let Sara know in advance. Having got that sorted out I then finished my packing for my trip to Swindon and Grimsby. I left home at around 4.00 p.m. and got to my masonic meeting in Swindon at 5.15 p.m. There, as a Provincial Grand Officer, I was not required inside the lodge until around 5.45 p.m. so my fear of being late because of heavy traffic around the M4 was unnecessary. The meeting went slower than anticipated and I decided to leave before the lectures but after the full installation. As I retired tonight as the Senior Deacon, I had no more duties to perform so sneaked off and was on the road to Lincolnshire by 7.30 p.m. - indeed I was in Stow-on-the-Wold by 8.10 p.m. I had a good journey up along the Fosse Way via Warwick, Coventry, Leicester, Newark, Lincoln and finally Grimsby, arriving at my mother's at 11.30 p.m. Mum and I had a coffee and whisky and chatted until 1.30 a.m. Tomorrow, I'm off to see the Mariners play Aldershot at Blundell Park and as I write this up, I have just got my ticket in the Findus Stand - yes the John Smith's Stand has reverted to its original name. In view of the low attendances of late it is an appropriate name being nicknamed the "Find Us" stand by the opposing fans. Must also pick up my Lotto winnings too on Saturday - £2!! Well its better than nothing!

A Day in Devon and along the Jurassic Coast

I had set the alarm for 5.30 a.m. today and it woke me up on time. I snoozed for about 10 minutes then remembered that I was going to Exeter today and needed to be at the Southgate Hotel near the cathedral in the city centre by 9.00 a.m. I made tea for Sara and me and ate a hurried marmalade sandwich. I hoisted the Devon flag before setting off for that county. The traffic was good but the weather got cloudier and cooler as I got further west. I arrived at the Southgate early and was able to park close to the reception door. I met up with Andrew N and we went across to the Employment Tribunals where I was able to agree a settlement at the door of the court with the barrister on the other side and our appearance before the Judge ended up as a relatively quick rubber stamping job. Andrew and I returned to the Southgate for a well earned cappuccino (we were very pleased with the final settlement). We discussed pensions and retirement provisions in this new world. I then went into our Exeter office just outside the city and caught up with my emails. I also learned that a new tribunal claim had been lodged in Exeter so it looks as though I'll be back again soon! I left the office at around 4.30 p.m. and took the coast road back - it is such a lovely journey along the "Jurassic Coast" and I must take Mary to Charmouth where there is an excellent fossil beach. I also crossed the Seaton Tramway and saw one the the new double decker trams (yellow in colour). Not much of a House Group tonight - only Steve. We discussed moral dilemmas for Christians and hit upon the idea of making the subject of the Group when it reconvenes "How we can lead good Christian lives" or "How should Christians live?" with the emphasis on the practicalities of showing Christian principles in our daily lives. I am sure that there is plenty of material and I'll have a look in the Sarum Bookshop next week. Have started the packing for my trip to Grimsby tomorrow. Will finish it off tomorrow morning.

Wet BBQ/Death of Senator Teddy Kennedy

A wet miserable day today. At least I was working in Salisbury again and therefore no long commute in the rain. I was hopeful of settling a case today to avoid having to go down to Devon (Exeter) tomorrow but despite all our efforts it seems that I am going to have to get down to Exeter for 9 a.m. tomorrow - so an early start in the morning - probably need to get up at 5.30 a.m. It was announced this morning that Senator Teddy Kennedy had died overnight, aged 77. He had been suffering from a brain tumor. He was the last of the four brothers and the only one not to have died a violent death. Tonight, Jeremy and Sue hosted the Food for Thought BBQ and because of the rain the food was cooked in the garage and eaten in their large kitchen. The children, however, braved the weather and went swimming in their pool despite the rain. I stayed from 7.00 p.m. until 9.00 p.m. as I wanted to get back, write this blog, sort out my papers for the morning and get an early night. Because I have not been sleeping too well (or rather finding it hard to get to sleep) I have tended to oversleep in the morning so need to try and have a relatively early night tonight.

An Indian Lunch

Woke up rather late again this morning - 7.35 a.m. but no worries as I was only commuting into Salisbury today and even though I didn't get into the office until 8.30 a.m. there were still plenty of car parking spaces left. The HR Department was almost deserted and I had plenty of desks to choose from to work at. As it is, being a creature of habit, I guess, I sat at Tricia's former desk. Somehow I don't feel right sitting where Sara used to be. It's still her desk to me. Having decided to have a break this weekend before the summer holidays formally end next week, I rang Mum and arranged to go up to Grimsby on Friday night after my Wiltshire Masters' Lodge meeting in Swindon. It will mean arriving at around midnight, even with me not stopping for the dinner after the meeting, but at least I'll be in Grimsby on Saturday morning and will not have to rush up on Saturday morning. I also bought a ticket for the Grimsby Town v. Aldershot League 2 match at Blundell Park (BP) on Saturday afternoon. I'll need to pick it up at BP on Saturday morning from the Mariner's shop. At lunchtime I joined some of the chosen Claims Team at Anokaa's, the upmarket Indian restaurant in Fisherton Street, for a wonderful lunchtime buffet meal to celebrate Susan's impending wedding. The buffet starter was exceptionally good. It was followed by a mild chicken curry and rice and fresh fruit salad - mangoes, melon and pineapple. Tonight Tom and I went to St. Mary's Stadium to watch the second round clash between Southampton and Birmingham City. Saints played brilliantly and scored first but, unfortunately, let two in to lose 1-2. If Saints could continue to play so well in their league games they could really take the division by storm.