Author: Jeff

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Winter is here

Pic of the week 31/1/21

We are in the grips of winter. The pic above was from a week ago, when we awoke on Sunday to a lovely snowy scene that then soon turned grey, cold and damp. Today we’ve had more snow – a lot has fallen, big, wet flakes, but its not settled, and has now stopped, but it did enough to dampen any opportunity to do much outdoors today.

On the metaphorical (rather than metrological) front we have entered a big freeze – I’ve been told that my AHoY role is to be scrapped. On the one hand, I’m not completely surprised, but on the other hand I am rather miffed. In part because of the “process” – I don’t think it is being done properly, in part due to the significant finacial hit I will have to take, and partly it means going back to square one, and one has to question what is the point of being a “good teacher” and doing all that one does. Given the stage of life that it is happening, it is a significant event and could well be pivotal in my relationship with my career and Millfield School for years to come – perhaps it will now just be a job, my relationship with the school purely mercenary and I prostitute myself for money, and nothing else.  Time will tell.

Running: January draws to a close with me struggling to average 5mins a km. The good news is that I am now running again – its tough, certainly not the cruise around town it was before I hurt my back, but I did manage an 8Km run today which is progress. I’ve run 46 Km this month – not bad, I now need to look to increase that significantly next month. My weight is stubburnly sticking at around the 13 stone 4 pound mark: with lockdown, it may just be a case of accepting this post-Christmas/bad back weight for longer, until lockdown eases and general movement increases. But I must guard against any move northwards.

Some good news: this last week saw Dad, David & Anne, and Granny W all get vaccinated, looking forward to the day that I join their ranks.

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Haircut

Pic of the week 24/1/21

So we are three weeks into the latest lockdown, and its been five weeks since we had our haircut, so on Saturday the clippers came out.

All was going well until:

Oops!

(or, more truthfully, something a little stronger).

Admiring her handiwork, Becky felt the front needed a little more off so she took up the clippers and applied them to the top of my head, having forgotten that she had taken off the guard to tidy up my neck and ear hairs.

So just behind my fringe I have a barren patch.

My fringe/quiff acts as a barrier, and front on, the calamity can’t been seen. But look from above, and there it is – a patch of pink scalp in amongst a see of grey hair.

The good news is is that lock-down looks like its going to last for quite some time so I’m sure it will have grown back before I’m allowed back out in public.

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Birds

Pic of the week 17/1/21

(I was going to call this post “Nice Tits” but figured that might get me into trouble)

So lockdown continues, remote teaching continues, and one needs to seek out alternative hobbies and interests in these alternate times. Becky has taken to feeding birds in the back garden, with her feeding stations set up to provide good photo opportunities.  I must admit, I too enjoy looking at the birds and have put a couple of feeders outside my window in the hope of attracting some feathered friends to watch whilst I teach.

One of my “new” hobbies is tinkering with the cars – well, more than just tinkering, fault finding and rectifying. The Micra has begun to make the most dreadful noise – a rattling shriek. Anyway, after some fault diagnosis today, my suspicions were confirmed and the problem is the alternator bearings. I think it will need a new alternator ( I don’t think it will be possible to replace the bearings). Not a difficult job in terms of complexity, but access will make it blummin’ difficult. More research needed.

Hummed and hah-ed about running today, but glad I did. Still slow – I can only manage 7K, and average about 5mins a K, but did feel so, so much better for it afterwards. And my back feels a lot better, to. I think that maybe now the aches and pains I am still getting in my back are from sitting at my computer for most of the day.

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Cars, Computers, cold and lockdown

Pic of the week 10/1/21

Well, its been an eventful week.

We’re now in lockdown 3, and schools are closed so I’ve begun remote teaching again. Looking at the positives, I’m not as tired as I would have been as I can get up a little later, no duties, no Wednesday or Saturday games; I’ve got a bit more time to crack on with a few projects, and I’ve learnt lessons from lockdown 1 (mainly don’t be too rigid with a daily timetable. Teach when you have to teach, but other than that work at times that suit). But it (teaching remotely) is not as good as being in school. I reckon we could be in for the long haul, all the way to the summer term …

Its been cold, bitterly cold, this week. Indeed, that was a definite silver lining on Wednesday when I walked home at lunchtime (I taught from school for the first day, but at home from then on) – I figured we would have otherwise have been at Kingweston and it would have been perishing. Temperatures have been at or around freezing all week. Today, I thought the sun was going to burn through to give us a beautiful January day, but no, the freezing fog never lifted.

Perhaps because of the cold, the birds have been flocking to our feeding table in the back garden. On Saturday morning, whilst teaching, I was distracted by a long tail tit in the bush outside my window, so I have put a couple of feeders out there in the hope of attracted more feathered friends to break up the monotony of the teaching day.

Because of teaching from home, I felt that the time was right to furnish myself with a Windows 10 computer, in the main so that I can use OneNote for Windows 10 – much quicker than using the browser based version I relied on in lockdown 1. So I found and bought a refurbished ‘pooter on Amazon (£125, 256 SSD Hard Drive 8 GB RAM) which duly arrived, but wouldn’t start. I phoned the helpline for help, but they weren’t any good. In the end, after much intial frustration, scratching of heads by Sam and I, and swapping parts in and out, I figured the problem was one of the four 2GB Ram cards. Long story short, I now have it up and running, albeit with only 6 GB instead of 8.

Today I had another crack at the top mount on the Corsa. Using penetrating spray and a long extension pole, I manged to crack the nut holding it on. So now having loosened a number of bolts that probably haven’t been loosened fro over ten years, I reckon I’m in a position were I can remove the strut next week (Saturday?) and replace the top mount. I am enjoying tinkering with the cars.

Ran today – once again felt slow and difficult, averaging about 5 mins per K (ran 7K) but did the run in nearly 30 secs less than last week, so that is progress. Although annoyingly, I tweaked my right calf, I hope that’s not going to put me out of action for too long – with my weight spiraling upwards I really do need to establish an exercise regime to help control it.

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Adios 2020, y bienvenidos 2021

Pic of the week 3/1/21

So farewell (and some may say good riddance) to 2020, and welcome 2021.

2020 was an “unprecedented*” year, in early January we begun to hear of a strange new virus in the Wuhan province of China,  by February it was on Europe’s shores and beginning to enter the collective conscious, by March we were in full lockdown. Unprecedented times.

(*I think unprecedented must be the word of 2020, utter so often to describe the new world we found ourselves living in. Covid 19, coronavirus and furlough also all deserve a mention.)

Sophie came home, holidays and exams were cancelled, and my best buy of the year was a pair of fleece lined walking trousers. It began with our evening Boris walks, but has developed into a new normal (another pair of words worthy of mention) with Becky & I regularly striding out into the hills, to take the fresh air and gaze at the beauty of the countryside in which we live.

I started learning Spanish, and begun a weekly “chat” with Daniel – my Spanish tutor in Mexico – and I also ran over a one thousand kilometres. Looking back at the blog, I begun the year with a calf strain, and I finished the year with a really bad back injury – in the last week of the Christmas term I could barely walk, and it has taken me the holidays to recover. I did run today – and feel so much better for it – managing 7Km in 35 min 23 secs, a v. poor showing, but not surprising after a month of inactivity and Christmas weight gain; hauling my lard-ass frame around my 7K route was not easy this morning, but I am delighted that I was able to do it with no serious after effects. In fact, many parts of me feel a whole lot better, many niggles and aches and pains have disappeared.

So what does 2021 hold?

Who knows, but a rocky few months to begin with, I’m sure.

Although term starts this week, (Wednesday), we are beginning the week teaching remotely with Y11 and U6th starting back face to face on Monday 11th Jan, with all students in on the 18th. That’s the current plan, but I don’t see the plan lasting. Cases continue to surge and many people (myself included) think schools should not be going back yet. I expect (another) government u-turn before the end of the week.

On a more positive note, we do now have a vaccine, but we are hearing worryingly little about the gov.’s plan to get us all vaccinated. This could and should be a game changer, get it (the logistics right) and come Easter the back of Covid could be broken, ready for the return of the better weather.

So what are my goals for the year?

Other than the immediate, obvious and tangible: get my weight back under 13 stone, and get back to comfortably running 10K in sub 49 mins, I’m not sure I have any. I think the year is too unpredictable to make any resolutions. I’m enjoying work – hope that continues -, have been enjoying walking and I must make sure that continues, I hope to get some overseas sun (and culture) at some point.

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Christmas ’20!

Pic of the week 27/12/20

For many, this would have been a very different Christmas, Covid Christmas with strict limitations on how many families could mix (two) in one household. But for us, that was always the plan for this year, as it has been for the last few years.

And it was, once again, a great Christmas.

We rose at a sensible hour, settling down for breakfast at around 9 am, and opening the first gifts from our Christmas bags. Back in October, we all agreed to not spend (waste) lots of money buying gifts that the recipients may not want or like, so we created a few categories, drew lots and then you bought gifts for everyone from your two categories.  It was fun, probably a lot more targeted and, on the whole, everyone was happy with most of what they received. (The exception was Becky’s top/t-shirt. I was drawn to buy her this, and it quickly became apparent why, in 25 years of marriage, I have nvere bought her clothing. She wasn’t impressed, but hopefully we’ve created a memory that will be shared by the family long after the T-shirts have been worn for the final time.)

We ate like kings* and enjoyed each other’s company throughout the day. A good Christmas!

(*I do now need to take action – after three weeks** of inactivity due to my back injury, coupled with gorging like a gorgon over the festive period I am becoming “gordo” and need to start shedding some pounds – the boxing day scales had me tipping 13 stone 5 pounds.)
(** Yesterday I went for my first run since November. I did 5Km in a slow time, not sure if it was OK for my back: it was a bit sore at times during the day, but today has been fine. Went for a longish walk today, and did some yoga on my return and all is feeling good. Shan’t run tomorrow (tutoring) but aim to pound out a few miles on Tuesday.)

 

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Results Day – 2

Pic of the week 20/12/20

So Thursday was results day 2, and Sam snagged an A in his Physics A level. Delighted for him, and very proud of him. Having been given a D by “the algorithm”, upgraded to a C by his teachers, he still wasn’t happy with this, so decided to sit his Physics exam in the October exams. He had an hour’s tutoring each week  and (finally) settled down to doing some work and his efforts were rewarded with his A – he now has an A and 2 B’s, the same as Sophie. We now just await the uni offers to come flooding in …

In other news, my back improves, but is still not fully recovered. There are times each day when all is wonderful, but other times when the pain comes stabbing back. I think standing is perhaps the action that causes me the most discomfort – my domestic chores of washing up and ironing in particular. (In other health news, I had my flu jab yesterday, with no ill effects.)

On Monday, Becky and I went for a walk at “The Newt” near Castle Cary – lots of deer, lots of money, and a lovely cup of coffee in the glasshouse.

And on Thursday we went for a walk in East Harptree woods and came across this chimney and pond. At one point we got a little lost in the dense woods, but isn’t that what exploring is all about?

Today, on my own (Becky at work) I walked to the weir, along the Brue to the hump back bridge and back along the other side. (Because of my back) I can’t run at the moment, so its important that I get out and get some exercise. It was a lovely sunny day today, and a very peaceful, calming walk – much needed given the times we live in (yesterday, Boris cancelled Christmas)

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Painful

Pic of the week 13/12/20

Its been a painful week – my back has been killing me.

On Monday I could barely move. Getting out of bed was not easy, and I needed Becky to help dress me – no way was I going to be able to put my socks and trousers on. I endured the day at school – the pain was so distracting, I couldn’t really concentrate on anything. That night was not much better – moving in bed caused real pain, and having to go for a pee in the night was not easy.

But on the Sunday I ordered, from Amazon, a back support belt – a corset or girdle really – that arrived on Monday and was a game changer. It didn’t make everything alright, but it helped hugely, giving me the support I needed in the back. Monday night I didn’t sleep wearing it – a mistake – but since Tuesday morning I’ve rarely had it off.

By Wednesday/Thursday I was beginning to feel more mobile and I would say that by now I am pretty much fully mobile, but still get the odd pain, particularly after being in the same position for some time. Not sure when I’ll be able to do any form of exercise again, but its good to be on the mend.

And speaking of mending, I’ve fixed the car. The replacement brake master servo arrived from ebay and, in theory, should have been a simple job to swap. But, as is so often the case, access was not good and in the end I have patched the hole with some metal epoxy putty. A fairly quick and simple repair that has done the job. May paint the repair black, with Hammerite, to help it blend in, but jobs a good ‘un.

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Car trouble and back pain

Pic of the week 6/12/20

On Tuesday, Becky was pootling around town in the MIcra when suddenly the brake pedal couldn’t be depressed. Using her driving skills and the handbrake she was able to limp safely home.  A quick bit of fault diagnosis and inspection soon revealed the problem to be the brake servo – it had rusted through on the front side, resulting in a 1cm (ish) hole (once I cleared away the flaking rust). This side is supposed to have a vacuum (from the engine), whilst the pedal side is at atmospheric pressure, thereby giving a pressure differential to allow you to push in the brake master cylinder via the foot pedal.

With the hole, the front side no longer has a vacuum, so no pressure differential, so you can’t depress the pedal.  I have fashioned a temporary repair by taping over the hole (it helps that the vacuum is inside: therefore atmospheric pressure helps to keep the tape in place) – it works and have taken the car for a short test drive. But my fear is is that the tape would fall off, putting you back to square one.  I have ordered (and received today) a replacement master servo from ebay for £35 (they are about £200 new) and will aim to fit it when I break up. Shouldn’t be too hard:  6 bolts, one pin and a hose connection …

My back hurts.

I think I tweaked it on Friday, and then yesterday I aggravated that tweak and yesterday and today it has hurt. With management – hot, cold, ibuprofen, yoga, goo posture – I am just about coping and it does seem to be getting better. But there are times when I feel stuck – transitioning from seated to standing, for example, often hurts – and times when my back “gives.” Will take it easy for a few days and hope it resolves itself soon.

On Saturday – Becky, Sophie and Sam went to Cornwall for the day, visiting, hence the pic of the week.

 

 

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Hands!

Pic of the week 29/11/20

So last Sunday, Sam returned home from work tearful and bandaged up. I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but a metal hose was winding back into a metal drum and Sam thought it was running away out of control, so he tried to grab it (this is the bit I’m less sure of: I think he grabbed the drum, but could have been the hose). Anyway it lacerated his hands quite badly. He did get up and go to work the next day, and the day after – but on that day the school nurse sent him home (via minor A&E) as his cuts weren’t healing. Anyway, he’s now had a few days off and has gone back into work today, but a nasty injury.

La mano de Dios.

Whilst we talk of hands, on Wednesday, Diego Maradonna passed away, famous for his footballing brilliance, infamous for his “hand of God”, or, more correctly, la mano de Dios because he would, of course, have said those words in Spanish.

Saturday was a “duvet day” at school – no lessons on Saturday so a day off, and it was wonderful. Certainly what I needed, and I’m sure all students and staff alike. An extra lie in, a chance to recharge after a busy and difficult four weeks, a chance to grab a quick breather before the final two weeks of term. After glorious cold, but frosty, days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, this weekend we have been shrouded in fog, so Becky & I curtailed our plans to ascend Dundon Beacon and went for a quick waltz along the Poldens.

And because its such a wonderful picture, I though I would include the above from Becky’s rambles earlier in the week.