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More dust
The upstairs is now covered with a different sort of dust. The carpet on the landing is so old that its foam backing has become friable and, on disturbing, turns to dust. The HN and I rolled it back today to lift the floorboards underneath and reach the ring main from which to attach a cable to supply a socket in the loft. We (he really, with me helping; I hand him screws and screwdrivers) were going to start by rerouting the TV aerial in the study until we discovered that it was not connected to anything; one end was in the study, the other was free in the loft.
Once the wiring to the new socket in the loft was completed, I turned on the ring main and the HN checked the socket by plugging in his inspection lamp, the bulb of which I'd replaced because it had blown earlier. Nothing happened; the lamp stayed unlit. I suggested that we try a radio. This worked. When the bulb had blown in the lamp, so had the fuse.
I think the HN, who is 80, likes a challenge. He is prepared to crawl in the loft to reach the incoming TV aerial to connect it to a booster from which a second aerial can be attached; it will be no mean feat as the pitch of the roof is so low. I doubt I shall be climbing into lofts when I am 80. There was a programme on TV last night about John Prescott. I doubt he could even get through the loft entrance.
Thought for today
Order means obedience. A government is said to preserve order if it succeeds in getting itself obeyed.
John Stuart Mill, British philosopher, Representative Government, 1861
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1.3.07 20:21
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A day of rest
I had a day off today, a day free from diy. Went early to Sainsbury's to stock up for the week and stood outside waiting for the store to open. A crowd of shoppers gathered ready with their trolleys, some clutching their lists. Most of these I noticed were written on the back of envelopes. Some held the whole envelope, others, like me, had cut off the front. There could be a research project there for someone.
The morning was sunny so I had to go for a walk; the weather was too good to resist. Footpaths were less boggy than usual so I arrived home with less mud on my boots. In one wood men were clearing pine and birch trees to make way for a heath. The area looked better already as sunshine could reach the ground. There was a lovely smell of wood smoke (my favourite smell; frying bacon and glue come next) and a huge pile of shredded wood. A small dog appeared and yapped at me but I ignored it and it went away.
I stopped on the side of a hill overlooking woodland to adjust one of my boots and to admire the view. It was spectacular; I could see for miles. The area is one of outstanding natural beauty and rightly so.
My next stop was at a church to read the parish newsletter in the porch. An elderly woman arrived to clean the church. She unlocked the door and asked if I'd like to look inside. I took up her offer and we had a chat.
As I passed the house with a meadow that is crossed by the footpath, the owner was outside by his car. We recognise each other now because I often pass that way. We had a chat, about the weather, unsurprisingly, and exchanged tips about killing ground elder. He said he covers the leaves in hole-free plastic bags, sprays the leaves thus avoiding neighbouring plants, and leaves the bags in place so the weedkiller remains on the leaves and isn't washed off by rain. I shall try that.
Quote for today
Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.
Dr Samuel Johnson, British critic, poet and lexicographer, to an anonymous writer
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2.3.07 19:26
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All done with mirrors
Today's job was the installation of a TV aerial in the study. I am glad to say that we finished the job apart from plastering round the socket in the wall. It was a day's work, and was fiddly and required thought but wasn't that difficult.
The tricky part was feeding the aerial cable under three metres of floorboards and up behind the skirting board without getting it tangled round the cooker cable. The HN had a long spring which he passed under the floorboards until, using a mirror and torch to see where the end lay, I was able to reach under the floorboards and grab it. I fixed the aerial to the spring with tape and he pulled the spring back and up behind the skirting board.
There is now a new TV aerial booster in the loft powered from the socket installed two days ago. This supplies the lounge and study aerials, and has slots for two more aerials. I could have done with a booster in my previous house because the reception was poor but didn't know such things existed.
I haven't a spare TV so the HN brought his portable one to check the socket in the study. He carried it round on his wheelbarrow; the reception was fine.
Thanks to the HN I now have a better understanding of the design and layout of my house.
Thought for today
The public, with its mob yearning to be instructed, edified and pulled by the nose, demands certainties; but there are no certainties.
H L Mencken (1880 - 1956) American journalist
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3.3.07 19:54
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A pointless future
There is another married couple in the care home. They sit at the same table for meals as my parents but, unlike my parents, leave as soon as they've finished eating. 'We must go so we can get a good seat,' says H, the husband. Off they go into the communal lounge. My mother wonders what the good seat is for; is it for watching the telly or for seeing what goes on?
H asked my mother where the suitcases were kept. She replied that it was likely that his relatives had taken them with them. H didn't believe this and told her that they were there for a holiday and would be going home soon. He must think he's in a hotel, said my mother, and added, a pretty odd hotel.
Another man, K, asked if she could help him get home; his wife would look after him. His wife died in January.
Thought for today
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure -- which is: Try to please everybody.
Herbert B Swope (1882 - 1958) American journalist
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4.3.07 19:49
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Word play
Went to a scrabblefest today organised by scrabble groups in neighbouring towns. I played five games and won only one, and the scores for that were close. Even a French woman beat me, twice. She totted up the scores in French so I had some practice in French as well as in addition. I put down the word MOW. She asked me if it was a regular verb. Yer what? I thought. Her English was better than mine. She wanted to know if she could add ED to the end to make the past tense. At least I knew that. Regular verbs; I must have learnt about them more years ago than I care to remember.
The French woman had a little notebook in which she wrote down words with which she was unfamiliar. Depressingly diligent and organised, I thought.
Thought for today
Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.
Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
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5.3.07 19:20
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Close encounters of the dusty kind
The kitchen is now full of dust. The HN came round this morning to tile the wall left bare after the installation of the new boiler last August. He used the tiles that fell off the stop-cock cover, the ones that I'd laboriously scraped to remove the adhesive, and some spare ones that I found in the garage. We took it in turns to scrape the wall to create a smooth surface. This produced the dust. Never in my life have I encountered so much dust. Life is a battle against dust; eventually we turn into dust and join it.
The ground elder in the garden is staging a comeback. On my weekly inspection today I spotted more leaves and sprayed them with glyphosphate. I am determined to beat it. Ground elder is probably like dust; it will return.
Thought for today
Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
Will Durant, quoted in the National Enquirer, 1980
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6.3.07 19:43
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Festina lente
Make haste slowly: Augustus, (63BC - AD14) first Roman emperor; or as the HN would say: Softly, softly, catchee monkey. We (the royal we that is) made slow progress today rerouting the phone extension cable. It turned out to be a just job; it would just take the morning but took most of the afternoon as well. And when we'd finished at 3.30pm, neither of us having had any lunch, the HN was keen for us to go to B&Q to buy a loft ladder using his OAP 10% discount card which is valid only on Wednesdays. He said he'd help me install the ladder. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I fortified myself with a swig of milk, and drove us to the store.
Getting in and out of the loft is tricky. I leap up from the top rung of the stepladder, careful not to knock the ladder over because that would leave me stuck in the loft. Installing a loft ladder makes sense.
Tomorrow I shall finish the grouting in the kitchen, and plaster the channel in the study wall where the TV aerial was laid. Meanwhile, I still have some artichokes to plant.
Thought for today
Confidence brings more to conversation than does wit.
French proverb
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7.3.07 19:48
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