… my musings on, er, "stuff"
Track of the week 10/4/16
Have always liked this track by The Mighty Wah – for me, it just eclipses their more famous The Story of the Blues but that may well be because I heard “Come Back ” first. Anyway, both cracking tunes.
But, and there is a but,watching the videos of both songs, one quickly realises that Pete Wylie can’t dance, and his acting is not up to much, either. Didn’t matter back in the (pre-MTV) day, but it’d probably cost him today.
Pick of the week 10/4/16
Deck boards arrived on Friday, the sun shone, and I got building. Made good progress but didn’t finish, and, annoyingly, it was stop start through the April showers on Saturday. However, it’s built, it looks good and I’m pleased with it.
Some more photos:
And here is a before shot:
… and a preliminary stages pic:
Track of the week 3/4/16
Despite my suave, sophisticated demeanor I must confess that I am a bit of a sucker for some 70’s disco and this track from “The Real Thing” has been a guilty pleasure of mine for some time.
I’ll always remember the look of disdain and disgust that Sophie threw me as I shimmied into the sitting room whilst listening to this on my iPod. It is a tune that defies you to sit still, you just have to get up and shake your stuff when it hits your ears.
Pic of the week 3/4/16
Was my birthday on Monday – 47 years young! This is a pic of me opening my gifts.
Think I’m doing well for my years. I’m going to record my weight as 13st 2lb (compared to 15st 0 last year), swimming regularly: typically 1km at least 3 times a week, with (recently) the odd mile thrown in. Running still on hold due to the knee not quite fully heeling as I’d like. Hair is becoming increasingly “flecked with grey” and (much to Sam’s delight) now starting to noticeably recede at the front, but all told, I think I’m in pretty good nick (others will, I’m sure, disagree!)
Yesterday (30/3/16) I swam a mile.
Not the first time I have swam a mile – I have breast-stroked my way up and down Shepton Lido before – but the first time I have swum a mile, non-stop, front crawl. Swam it in 38 mins 37 secs.
Went for my 4 o’clock swim, sans Sam who had somehow persuaded us not to go that day, jumped in and set off. It was not busy and a sense of calm enveloped me as a began to plough up and down the lane.
With no Sam, I soon decided I would swim 36 instead of my normal 30 lengths – I’ve done this a few times. I then figured doing another 4 lengths to take it to 40 would be no big deal. And then the thought began to crystallise in my head: if you are doing 40, another 8 lengths isn’t much to ask to take you to the magical mile. And so I decided to do so. I did, however, waver at 24 lengths – at this point I would normally be thinking about ramping up my pace for the last few lengths, but now I realised it was only half way. I trekked on, was soon in the thirties and the mile was in touching distance. I kept going and was soon there.
I don’t think “mile-ing” will become the norm (Sam wouldn’t have the patience to wait!) but would like to do a mile on a reasonably regular basis. Perhaps once a month? And after a mile, what next? The two obvious challenges are 60 lengths (2 Km) and swimming for an hour. Who knows? My knee remains a bit dodgy so still not pounding the pavement, and I do enjoy my swimming at the moment.
Track of the week 27/3/16
A mix of sun & showers today made this an appropriate tune for track of the week.
Always reminds me of my first few weeks of IOT (basic training when I joined the RAF). I have a recollection of this belting out through the block one Sunday afternoon after we had got back from some march/run/nav ex through the local Lincolnshire countryside. Have always liked the song since. Happy days!
Pick of the week 27/3/16
Two for the price of 1 this week!
(Deck & Trellis – sounds like the name of a pub)
A beautiful day on Friday (Good Friday), first day of my hols, and an opportunity to begin building my deck. The pic above just shows the planning phase – at this stage nothing has been dug, or fixed. By the end of the day the first three pads were in place and the joists cut to size. Then, the next day, the rain came and outdoor work has been delayed since.
Also included this pic of me taking down a trellis panel as the deck will just overhang the bed. Removing it should connect the two halves of the garden into one space. Hopefully, when all is completed, one would forget that the trellis was ever there, so I though it important to include a pic of its destruction as a reminder of what went before.
Pick of the week 20/3/16
On Friday ran a colour run for Sports Relief.
One of my goals, targets and aims was to swim the channel. Since writing those targets I’ve had some doubts as to how far I actually need to swim. I surpassed the 960 lengths I originally calculated a week or so ago but I now don’t think it far enough.
Anyway, I am now claiming to have reached France, having swum 1064 lengths, which equates to 35.1 Km or 21.9 miles. The official minimum swim distance is 21 miles, so I reckon I’ve done it.
Loving the swimming at the moment, typically swim 30 lengths in circa 23mins 30 ish secs. It seems to ease my knee injury, I reckon I’ve swum more because I’ve run less, and our lack of plumbing over half term meant swimming every day which added to the distance.
Suppose I’d better turn round and swim back now! 5,000 lengths in the calendar year? Now that’s a (new) challenge.
Track of the week 13/3/16
Billy Taylor’s classic. I love it. Listen and enjoy, listen and enjoy.