aboveboard
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What's new?
Delays at airports, though this time they are due to a terrorist threat instead of a strike by airport staff. Politicians and the police come out with the same old stuff; we are to remain vigilant though what to look out for they do not reveal. Passengers come out with the same old stuff; they want information though about what they do not reveal. With all the scares and restrictions perhaps travel by boat will become popular. If the ship blows up you stand some chance of survival; you can jump into the sea.
The dozy young blackbird has perished. I hadn't seen it for two days and wondered what had happened to it. Today I found it in the garden by the fence, dead. Why it died will remain a mystery. I buried it where it lay; I hope I don't unearth it when I dig the garden later in the year. The dry earth is likely to delay decomposition.
The house now has a functioning bell attached by the front door so the porch can always be locked and visitors won't have to beat on the door to attract attention.
Thought for today
Evolution is clearly a tinkerer, not an engineer; it has to work with yesterday's model.
Karen Rosenberg, University of Delaware, National Geographic July 2006
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10.8.06 20:44
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More than expected
Took three porcelain ornaments and two ghastly vases to an auctioneer's for valuation with a view to selling. The man who looked at them said the porcelain pieces were modern and of little value; the vases, which I thought could go to a charity shop, were made in Japan in the early 1900s and could fetch about £300 or possibly more if the signature on the bottom of each turned out to be a rare one.
That was a surprise. I went home to search for more antiques and returned with two paintings that were propped up against a wall in the spare bedroom and covered in dust. One was valued at £250, the other at £150. These will be auctioned in October. I almost gave those to a charity shop as well.
An antiquarian bookseller left a cheque this afternoon for £40 for four of my father's books. I thought I'd better phone the bank to see if it was still open before I walked into town, and so phoned the number given in the Yellow Pages. A recorded voice answered; it instructed me to press one if I wanted any service other than telephone banking. Having pressed one, I was given a spiel about how to use telephone banking and was then returned to the initial message. There was no option to ask what time the bank shut.
I decided to chance it and walked into town. Fortunately the bank stayed open until 5pm.
Thought for today
On being told that money doesn't buy happiness: But it upgrades despair so beautifully.
Richard Greenberg, Hurrah at last, 1999
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11.8.06 21:21
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The remains of a life
I phoned a bookseller who came and took away the rest of the unwanted books, apart from the 24 volumes of the 1926 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and paid us £20 for his trouble. The emptying of the large bookcase in the sitting room has exposed more dust and more cracks in the plaster.
Now I have to start getting rid of the bookcases. The only rooms without bookcases are the kitchen, the bathroom and my parents' bedroom. The hall, the dining room, the sitting room, the landing, and the three other bedrooms all have bookcases, some more than one.
My mother has filled another bag for a charity shop. I noticed that she'd included several pairs of knickers that she'd outgrown, knickers that werre off-white, with faded labels and some holes. Even if people wanted to buy second-hand underwear, I doubt charity shops would want to sell them.
Thought for today
A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.
Saki (1870 - 1916) The Square Egg, 1924
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12.8.06 21:46
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Cleanliness is next to godliness
Well, there's little of the latter in my parents' house then. I am beginning to wonder if they possess anything that isn't filthy. Today I cleaned a fan heater that my father liked on in the kitchen when he ate his breakfast. Breakfast was the only meal he prepared for himself. Cereal, toast and coffee require little culinary skill.
Not only was the outside of the heater coated in dust, the inside was as well. I unscrewed the front grill and poked around pulling out clumps of dust. My parents must have had it for years because it does not have a moulded plug. Fortunately it still worked after the attention I gave it. I wonder if I'll ever use it.
Thunderstorms all yesterday afternoon and evening prevented my blogging. I didn't want to risk damage to my computer and modem.
This afternoon I sorted through a box my father kept in the bottom of a bookcase. Screws by the ton, bent nails, a tin of rusty washers, Rawlplug (which contains asbestos), drill bits, hacksaw blades, several tubes of glue, hinges, curtain hooks, coat hangers, to list but a few. There were enough items to stock a hardware store.
Thought for today
The minute a phrase becomes current it becomes an apology for not thinking accurately to the end of the sentence.
Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr (1841 - 1935)
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14.8.06 21:19
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Life is full of problems
Problems come in clusters, or they do in my life. I was wondering when my car was going to develop a fault. It did so today; the lower half of the combi-display suddenly packed up. The usual display became a straight red line which faded away in ten minutes. Fortunately the rest of the car functioned as normal. I've booked it for a diagnostic test on Thursday morning. It's still under guarantee (two weeks left) so, apart from the inconvenience, fixing it should cost me nothing.
The next problem will probably be some part of my body malfunctioning.
Today I cleaned windows. I asked my mother when she last cleaned them. She thought perhaps fifteen years ago. My father had a theory that clean windows were a hazard to birds; they were likely to fly into them.
Are we safer now than we were five years ago? was a question on the radio this morning. Intelligence agencies and the government (and George Bush I wouldn't be surprised) will no doubt say yes. But how do they know? What one doesn't know about one doesn't worry about. Near misses are often unnoticed. I think we'll never know if we are safer now than before.
Thought for today
An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.
Henry Wotton (1568 - 1639)
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15.8.06 20:24
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Donating to charity
In The Times Modern Morals section recently was a question about donating things to charity shops. (Dumping is the word I use.) Should the person take their goods to their favourite charity or give them to one likely to sell them for a higher price?
This was something that had never crossed my mind. I don't care what happens to the things I take to charity shops. I am only too glad to get rid of them; I want shot of the stuff in the easiest way possible as, I reckon, do many others who take things to these shops. Some might feel virtuous in the process; I feel relieved. Where any money goes, and how much, is of little concern to me. If I was keen to support a charity I would donate some of my time.
A speaker on the radio this morning said he was 'envisioning the way forward for British rugby.' Grand but meaningless. I wondered if his thoughts were as vague as his words.
Guess what? To my slight annoyance, but not surprise, the car's display worked normally this morning when I turned on the engine to drive it out of the garage to make room for a chap who'd arrived to fit a new lock to the garage door. If it packed up once, it'll do it again so I shall still take it for a diagnostic test tomorrow morning. In my experience computers don't mend themselves. Only living things do that.
Thought for today
Reason and youth make bad bedfellows.
Anthony Hope, Simon Dale 1898
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16.8.06 20:07
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Power of the enduring kind
Today I received my father's registered Enduring Power of Attorney. Now it will be difficult to get money from his bank account. No longer will I be able to put a cheque in front of him and tell him to sign it. Money spent has to be in his best interests. Substantial gifts require approval from the Court of Protection, though what is considered substantial is not specified in the information that accompanied the stamped EPA.
Now I shall have loads more forms to fill in and letters to write. I think I shall charge the postage to my father's account. Every little helps.
I drove my car to the garage for a diagnostic test, unnecessarily as it happened because the fault never reappeared. The chap at the reception said the test would be unhelpful; I'd have to wait for it to return. At least the journey to and from the garage was uneventful. School holidays make a marked difference to traffic; driving becomes pleasant.
Thought for today
Among the adages and proverbs which tend to become the philosophy of the thoughtless, one of the most dangerous is: 'Seeing is believing.' For thousands of years, wise men believed that the earth was flat and that the sun moved around the earth -- because they could see with their own eyes that these things were so.
Hans Zinsser, Rats, Lice and History, 1935
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17.8.06 21:27
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