Wednesday 26 April 2017

The Shopping Demon bit me

I went to Cork today. It wasn't exactly planned. I needed ink for my printer and when I tried to buy it locally, it was no longer available. No joy in asking in the store. No, we don't have it in stock was all the answer I got. So, off to the big city to get some.

It is a cold day with a North wind that would take your eyebrows off but the sun is shining and I saw a solitary swallow this morning, so summer is hovering out there somewhere. Therefore, an enjoyable trip on the bus.

I still had a bit of trouble getting the ink for my printer but finally found a supermarket which stocks it and which shall be nameless but it starts with the letter "T", and I bought two double packs (black and colour), so I should be ok for a while now.  Why is it, that if you have something for a couple of years, it becomes nearly impossible to get the "bits" such as ink for my printer?  Sigh, sigh.

I had a cup of tea and a scone at the Roundy Bar which is a great place to go if you are on your own, or even if you are not. You can sit outside on the pavement or inside where the furniture is scuffed and worn. There is a nice relaxed atmosphere and I enjoyed the break. The tea was good, too.

From the Roundy Bar I went to the Franciscan church to thank St. Anthony for all manner of things lost and found and to increase my store of goodwill with him in case anything else gets lost and needs to be found in the future. I love that church, it is so peaceful.

Of course I should have gone home after that but I didn't. Instead I bought a lip brush, new make up, a new shoulder bag which is just what I need when I am at the races tomorrow, earrings and a matching necklace (also what I need for the races...), a special patchy thing for my sore toe (well it was half price - the patchy thing, not my toe!), two regional newspapers just to see if I can write an article for them about my novels; oh, and I stopped off at the Cancer Charity Shop and bought a Len Deighton book London Match (I read it years ago, it is third in his Game,Set and Match trilogy which I really enjoyed). Finally, my bank account caved in and I got the bus home.

Altogether an enjoyable day! Shopping is such fun when you don't actually have to do any.


Saturday 22 April 2017

Earth Day - is anyone in?

Today has been designated Earth Day. What does that mean, exactly?  This is where we live, on this planet revolving in outer space with all the stars and satellites. There are other worlds out there at an unimaginable distance from our own planet. When I am house-sitting in the country I love to go out on the lawn and look up at the stars of a summer's night. There they are, glittering away, keeping their orbits, as they have been doing for time immemorial. Gives you goosebumps, if you think about it, doesn't it?

We miss so many things simply because we don't take any notice of them. The poets have been pointing this out to us for centuries. We inhabit this planet and we should treat it like our own living room. Somewhere to welcome visitors, to relax in, somewhere we cherish.  Now, that is a sobering thought.

Let's go for a walk today and see what new things we can discover. If we live in a city, we can watch for the signs of spring in the trees (every street has a few trees) or we can visit a park and smell the warmth of the grass growing in the sun.  Or we can watch a cat sleeping in someone's garden (there's one tortoiseshell one which I see on my walks). If we go shopping and pass a florists, we can breathe in that heady scent of all the flowers on offer. There is so much to be thankful for and today, on Earth Day, is a good time to recall it.

Wednesday 12 April 2017

Things you never needed to know (probably)

To misquote Shakespeare : I am a snapper up of unconsidered bits of information which no one needs to know. It's just a habit I picked up I know not where. For example, this morning I learned that scientists may have discovered why shoelaces come undone. If you pull on your sneakers of a morning and prepare for your jog, you might find that, along the way, the laces open and passers by will call your attention to this or you'll stand on the trailing bit of shoe lace and nearly trip up.
Apparently the scientists at California Berkeley University looked into this "shoelace knot failure". And now you want to know the answer, right? It's what keeps you awake at night. Well, the answer is interesting: the forces of a foot striking the ground stretches and then relaxes the knot, while a second force caused by the leg swinging, acts on the ends of the laces like an invisible hand. The expression "may the force be with you" has even more intriguing possibilities than I ever imagined.

Here's another bit of riveting stuff - and then I'm done, promise! Researchers at the University of Sussex and University College London found that the word "please" was used nearly twice as much by the British compared to Americans. Not surprising from a nation which likes to form orderly queues or lines to use the American term. I have my doubts, though. Let's face it, if you travel on the Underground in London, the word "please" is used countless times as in "Please mind the gap!"

There is nothing like dropping one or two of these bits of information into your conversation the next time you are stuck for small talk. I remember telling someone that, according to statistics, it rains in England on Fridays more than any other day of the week. I was actually escorting this person from Reception to my (big) boss's office and was a bit desperate how to keep the conversation flowing and it was a Friday and it was raining...  Anyway, he was so amused that he repeated it to my boss who thought it showed remarkable intelligence on my part - but I won't go in to that.

Happy Easter / Happy Holidays to all my readers.

🐇🐑