aboveboard
http://20six.co.uk/aboveboard
powered by
20six.co.uk
|
|
Life in the slow lane
There was an old boy in front of me at the checkout in the supermarket this morning. He was slow. He dumped his goods so close to the edge of the conveyor belt that some fell off onto the floor. He then had to move his trolley to pick them up. I considered picking them up for him but, having seen the way he unloaded his trolley, decided against it. He made work for himself.
Having unloaded his trolley, he then packed his goods in the store's plastic bags, and did that in an inefficient way. He packed so carelessly that one bag tipped over and the contents fell out. Meanwhile, the cashier, a bored-looking teenaged girl, had finished, and waited silently for him to pay. He took so long that she eventually asked him if he would like help packing. He didn't hear what she said and asked her to repeat it. No, he was OK. If I'd have been the cashier I'd have packed without asking.
I wondered if I would end up like him.
Thought for today
There is hardly any man so strict as not to vary a little from truth when he is to make an excuse.
George Savile (1633 - 1695) Lord Halifax, English statesman, author
|
8.12.07 20:08
|
|
The innocence of children
Today was the annual Christmas party at the care home where my parents live. I enjoyed it more than I expected, mainly because my brother, his wife and two of their sons (aged 18 and 22, I think) also went. We had a small room to ourselves and ate undisturbed by others. The wanderers were kept tethered by their relatives.
There was a raffle; someone won a large teddy bear and walked past our table clutching it. This prompted a discussion about the recent naming of the bear in Sudan. My mother said that when she was a child (perhaps 78 years ago) she was given a teddy bear by one of her grandmothers who then asked her what she would call it. My mother, after thinking hard and trying topplease, announced 'Jesus'. The grandmother looked disapproving and told her that was not a good name. My mother asked, Why? Grandmother didn't explain; she merely said that grandfather wouldn't like it.
Thought for today
There are certain writers, as different as Dickens from Kipling, who never shake off the burden of their childhood.
Graham Greene, in an introduction to The Best of Saki, 1930
|
9.12.07 19:50
|
|
More decisions
I'm looking forward to having a new kitchen, but am not enjoying choosing it. There is a lot to think about--tops, doors, floor, colour as well as composition. Another decision is where to put a skip to take the rubbish. One in the road needs a licence; one in the drive might block access to my garage. Perhaps being unable to use my car for three weeks would be a useful exercise. I'd have to walk to the supermarket, probably twice a week, and stagger back with my shopping in a large rucksack. Or else eat less. Hmm, don't fancy that.
Thought for today
One will try anything when nothing else is available. The greatest minds are capable of the greatest absurdity when it comes to health preservatives.
Theodore Dalrymple, BMJ 2007;335:1215
|
10.12.07 19:52
|
|
A free lunch
Today turned out better than expected. I went for a walk with a local rambling group; the cold, dry weather was just right for walking, and the lunch afterwards, at the house of a couple in the group, was more substantial than expected. Twenty of us sat down at three tables and ate chilli washed down with wine, elderflower cordial or water. I, and the others too, I think, were prepared for a bowl of soup and a mince pie. The two who'd invited us round, laid on a lavish spread instead. They must be used to feeding a lot of people; making something seem effortless, like was done today, requires practice.
On my early morning walk tomorrow I shall think how I could fit twenty people into my house and feed them.
Thought for today
Confucius he say, man who drives like hell, bound to get there.
|
11.12.07 19:58
|
|
Another sunny day
The weather was too good to stay indoors. I decided to go for a long walk; this gave me the opportunity to check a route I intend to take when I lead a walk in January, and a good excuse to eat a large breakfast.
The views were great. Fields were white with frost; trees were outlined against blue sky. Footpaths were less boggy because frost had solidified the mud. It was so cold that the hair on the backs of bullocks in a field had flecks of frost on it. The animals stopped chewing to stare at me as I passed. Another group I passed, a group with horns, also stared at me, and one took a few steps towards me. I wondered what I'd do if it came within reach. One pats dogs and strokes horses, but what is one to do with bullocks? Do cattle like their muzzles or backs stroked? The animal never came close enough for me to find out and, as saliva dripped from its mouth, it was not particularly attractive.
Thought for today
Rules make the learner's path long, examples make it short and successful.
Seneca
|
12.12.07 20:53
|
|
It pays to check
Feeling peeved with my father's bank today. Last year I asked it to cancel one of his direct debits, and received a letter confirming that this had been done. Today I received his current account statement and noticed that the supposedly cancelled direct debit had been collected last month as usual. I phoned the bank; the direct debit had not been cancelled last year. Gnash. It has, the bank assured me, now been cancelled. I am in the process of trying to get the money refunded.
Thought for today
It is a matter for regret that so many mean, low suspicions turn out to be well-founded.
Edgar Watson Howe, Country Town Sayings, 1911
|
13.12.07 20:41
|
|
Minor triumphs
Yesterday evening I emailed the organisation that collected the direct debit that my father's bank should have cancelled. Today I received a reply that said, more or less, the cheque was in the post. Hope it doesn't get lost in the Christmas mail.
Something else pleased me today. (Am I easily pleased? Not sure about that.) On my way to the library to download podcasts, I dropped into a bookshop to look at books to buy for Christmas and found three that I liked. The shop had an offer: three for the price of two. I decided to buy them on the way back to avoid lugging them to and from the library. What did I find in the library? Two of the books; so I borrowed them and saved myself money.
There was a programme on telly last night about the last debutantes of 1958. They had to curtsey. I had a go. Curtseying is for the young. Anyone much above fifty would be likely to fall over; even if they didn't, their knees would crack. Imagine a line of old folk curtseying; the noise would be terrible.
Thought for today
The first half of life is spent in longing for the second, the second half in regretting the first.
French proverb
|
14.12.07 19:57
|
|
[first page] [previous page]
[next page]
|