Phew, “it ain’t half been hot Mum”. A sentence that certainly describes the weather over the last week or so. It also happens to be the name of a TV series that, due to today’s wokeness, is never shown anymore.
The heat has been blistering at times and, for much of the time, unbearable. We all live in well-insulated homes to combat heat loss in winter, but with weather patterns changing we probably now need to invest in the other extreme as well.
We have a large Dyson Airblade which keeps us cool at night, but I do find it ridiculous that for many days we have had to keep the windows shut and curtains drawn to maintain the ambient temperature indoors below 30°C. Whether it is my age or my lack of fitness, I seem to find it increasingly difficult to cope in these extremes, which is ironic considering this next trip.
Then there is the TV show, which is no longer shown on the grounds that some people may get upset. I grant you that the humour may not be up to today’s standards, and I would not condone the views or sentiments portrayed, but it was of its time. Surely we are adult enough to make our own minds up, especially if it is preceded with the standard warning they now give with old radio shows about it “being of its time” and that “some may find the stereotyping offensive”.
We can choose to switch over or switch off. After all that, it was never my favourite programme in the first place.
And don’t get me started on politics since my last blog. We will soon have our seventh Prime Minister in ten years. That is ridiculous. As a country, we should be ashamed that our choices for leader have been so abysmal.
Ted Heath was the last PM who won an election to enter Downing Street and then left through losing an election. When will we learn? Governments should be for a fixed term for the good of the country, which was something I think one of the last seven tried to introduce.
We need stability and should give whoever we have elected the chance to deliver fully upon their mandate, even if we don’t agree with it. Mind you, there have been some really lame ducks amongst the seven, and we need to make sure that whenever we pick an eighth, we really believe in their capability and vision rather than short-termism.
Apart from that opinionated piece, my wife and I have met with a number of ministerial colleagues and will do so again later in the day.
Karen’s recovery is all but complete. She gets a few niggles and, as I jokingly accuse her, plays upon them sometimes, but it is still quite remarkable what she has achieved. She is back working two or three days a week – just because she can.
We have started the summer round of entertaining in the garden, which has been lovely. I love the buzz of a full house and garden. The boys both gave me the best present of all on Father’s Day – some time spent with us. In the words of Jack Johnson, it’s better when we are together.
I have had a few rounds of golf, including one in the 30°C+ heat, which I personally abandoned after seven holes. I was sweating too much to maintain a grip on the clubs and felt I just had to get out of the heat. I volunteered to have cold drinks for the others whilst they completed the last 2 holes.
There have been two visits to Test Matches at The Oval and Trent Bridge (the boys also went together to Lord’s, which pleased us both enormously). Cricket is not cheap and, for us in Norfolk, a long day trip. Nevertheless, they make for enjoyable days out, sitting in the (hopefully not too) hot sun, soaking up the atmosphere whilst watching some proper quality cricket and listening to TMS on the radio. Even Karen really enjoys it.
The football fixtures for Norwich have been published, which for me so far is a bigger football highlight than the World Cup. Sadly, it looks like we will already be missing five games due to holidays and other pre-booked events – like Barry’s wedding!
The World Cup has failed to spark any interest in me whatsoever yet. It may be the time difference or just that most of the matches have little or no jeopardy. It should be better once the knockout rounds start.
So far, I have fallen asleep during the first England game and gave up and went to bed at half time during the second. Of all the other games, I must have seen about 20 minutes in total. I never have had much interest in watching games unless I have a vested interest.
Being the culture vultures that we are, we have just been to the theatre three times in three weeks. Whilst we enjoyed each one, they were all very different.
Fawlty Towers was line-for-line true to the comedic TV series. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was a great Le Carré adaptation, incredibly well staged and performed, and had me riveted from start to finish. The final one was The Bodyguard, which received the long-standing ovation it rightly deserved.
We both really enjoy the theatre but do find that we now have to try and restrict what we see, as there would be a danger we could be going more than once every week. There is something about a live performance, and we are so lucky in Norwich to have so many theatres putting on such varied schedules.
Because of the heat and staying inside, I have made steady progress on “the book”. I have moved the story through to the end of 1944, which is where I will pause for now whilst I attempt some heavy editing and proofreading.
I have been using some of the AI tools to help me with that, and it is amazing what errors they pick up – not just with grammar and spelling, but also with context, facts and continuity. I do find myself having arguments with it sometimes when it highlights an error, either because I know I am right or because I wrote it that way deliberately. It is always polite in its replies which prompts me to use please and thank you back to it in return.
And onto this next trip, which is one that was rescheduled from April due to Karen’s planned operation date.
We were restricted by how far we could move it because of a booking restriction on Neil’s ticket, meaning he had to fly within 12 months of the date he booked his flights. This means we will initially be leaving the “cool” UK temperatures of 35°C for the sweltering 38°C of Las Vegas.
Stupid, I know, but better than losing the trip and the money entirely.
So, after gambling the boys’ inheritance on the turn of a card in Vegas for 3 nights, we will then be hitting California for the majority of the trip.
Actually, I struggle to spend even $10 in the casinos, as I would rather keep the money in my pocket than line the pockets of the casino bosses but that’s another story.
