Just to let you know, there will be no serial episode today, and no other posts. I had to drive Julie into Norwich for MRI scans earlier, and we have just got back.
(Nothing sinister, the scans were for ongoing joint problems caused by Arthritis.)
Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.
It looks as if WordPress has put me on the naughty step again, for reasons best known to them.
On some blogs I follow, my comments are coming up as ‘Anonymous’. On some others, I am being asked to ‘Fill in required fields’. But there are no required fields to fill in, so my comment will not appear. This is happening on a few blogs at the moment, but may well spread. As we all know from experience.
So if you spot one of my ‘Likes’ on your blog post, but no comment, at least you know I tried.
Best wishes, Pete.
Almost ten days since I passed the eye test, and still no news from the DVLA about my driving licence renewal. As I mentioned last week, I will not be celebrating until I am holding the new licence in my hand. Next Friday will be five months since I first submitted my application.
————————————————————————————-
The government lost two parliamentary seats in by-elections this week, causing mounting pressure on Boris Johnson to resign. Naturally, he was quick to say he was not going to resign, and ignored the results. It is worth noting why those by-elections had to take place, following the resignations of the Conservatives who had previously won the seats.
The former MP for Tiverton and Honiton was found to be watching pornography on his phone in the House of Commons.
The former MP for Wakefield was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15 year-old boy, and jailed for 18 months.
Very much the kind of people the Conservatives like to have representing them.
————————————————————————————–
The weather has stayed warm in the east of England, even overnight. Ollie’s walks have had to be curtailed by his frequent dips in the river, as he struggles to keep cool.
—————————————————————————————-
My blogging slump has recovered somewhat, with a new fiction serial in progress, and some other posts that have been well-received.
—————————————————————————————-
The overturning of the right to a pregnancy termination in America (depending on the state) is a tragic backward step for that country. But it moves it many steps nearer to becoming the ‘Gilead’ featured in the book and TV series, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. It seems to me that Canadian author Margaret Attwood actually saw into the future of the United States.
—————————————————————————————–
Wherever you are, I hope that you are having a peaceful and enjoyable Sunday.
—————————————————————————————–
On Sunday, I posted some musings, and I mentioned that we expected our first seasonal visitors, one of my stepsons and his girlfriend.
They were late arriving, something always of concern when a long drive is involved. Due to be here by 11am, it got to midday, and then the phone rang.
After turning off the main A47 road just four miles from our house, the car had been involved in an accident. It was undrivable, and three cars had been involved. Fortunately, nobody had been injured.
A recovery truck had been called, and I was able to go to where they were to collect them once the truck arrived to take the car away.
(The damage is so severe, it is unlikely to be repaired through the insurance)
But it was much more complicated than that, of course it was. They had only been intending to stay for lunch, drop off presents, collect theirs, and drive home again around 4pm. Now they had no car, public transport was not an option with no direct train route and a Sunday service, so they were stuck in Beetley, both due to go to work this morning.
Phone calls were made in abundance, but nobody could help by giving them a lift home, or lending them a car. I wasn’t about to make a 260-mile round trip in heavy traffic in the dark, and Julie’s bad back would never tolerate such a long car journey.
So they had to stop the night, miss work today, and I drove them back this morning. So, no serial post yesterday or today, and no sign of me around the blog. I am just back from a 6-hour journey, and looking forward to the dinner I am going to cook soon.
Julie’s son now has to try to buy a car tomorrow, using taxis to visit dealerships close to where he lives in Bedfordshire. On top of that, he is a self-employed tradesman, so lost a day’s pay today, and probably tomorrow too.
But there’s more!
They had booked up to spend Christmas in a hotel in the Cotswolds, hoping to make it special. If they don’t get a car tomorrow, they will be unable to travel to that area, as it is too far to go using public transport. On top of that, they will lose the £500 they paid, as it is too short notice to claim a refund.
As I dropped them off just after 1 pm, I was hesitant when wishing them a ‘Merry Christmas’
Good morning everyone. Just to let you know that I won’t be posting anything or reading other blogs today. There will be no serial episode, and no activity from me. If I recover later, I will try to catch up.
I had a very bad night feeling unwell, with perhaps three hours of broken sleep from 11 last night until 8 This morning.
Now I have taken some more painkillers and had a hot drink, I am going back to bed. Julie is going to take Ollie out for me later, if I can’t manage it.
Only a couple of days to go before the end of 2020, a year that most of us will be pleased to see the back of. Let’s hope that vaccination programmes will lead to some major improvements in 2021, and life might start to feel normal again for many of us. Those who have lost loved ones will still find it hard to cope of course, and the businesses forced to close, and those who have lost careers or jobs, will face a complete readjustment of their lives.
In the world of blogging, lockdowns and lack of movement saw an explosion of new bloggers like never before. Many hoped to increase their income, or just start an online business. Whether by offering SEO and other blogging services, online courses, or just selling cosmetics. Thousands of entrepreneurial people took to blogging as a route to make some money. Most found out that it doesn’t work like that. Bloggers do not rush to buy such services, especially blog promotion services, fake reviews, and social media accounts that are built up to 5,000 followers before being offered for sale.
Do people actually buy Twitter Accounts, Instagram Accounts, or someone else’s blog? That was a new one for me, in a strange year.
Like some other bloggers, a little more time on my hands meant that I posted more. As well as fiction serials, I explored some more random stuff, and the popularity of those posts took me by surprise. I hardly posted photos during the past year. I lost the ‘muse’ for photography, along with any desire to read fiction. That surpised me, as I had been doing well with reading up to that point. But lack of concentration seemed to be one side effect of tthe pandemic that tended to overwhelm me at times.
2020 also saw an increase in followers, as new bloggers looked around for blogs to follow, and blogging communities to become part of. The other side of that coin was losing some regular followers that had been around for years. Maybe they stopped blogging, got fed up with following my particular blog, or just found a new hobby to pursue.
Some died during the past year, which was sad to hear. Others took extended breaks from blogging; whether through illness, lack of continued interest, or the pressures associated with dealing with familiy and work during a very difficult time. I hope some of them come back, I really do.
Once again, I would like to thank everyone who has stuck by my blog, during this unprecedented year in our lifetimes. All the followers and friends who have been around since the start, and those new followers who have thrown themselves into blogging, and become great members of our small community.
I thank each and every one of you for your comments, your likes, and your emails. Thanks for reading my very long serials, and my everyday stuff about walking a dog in all weathers.
In your own ways, you have got me through 2020. I doubt I could have done it without you.
Over the past week, I have noticed something happening around the blogosphere.
Early Halloween posts, to be exact. Whether they are already listing films or books with scary or ghostly themes, or talking about haunted houses and paranormal happenings, they are creeping in daily.
A reminder of the date.
It is the 19th of August.
Yes, it’s not even September, and some bloggers are posting about Halloween.
I am notorious for moaning a lot, and coming across as grumpy. But come on! Halloween in August? It gets earlier, and sillier, every year. I’m sure it won’t be long before we get Halloween posts in January, with a ten-month countdown to the ‘big day’.
So in the spirit that seems to be the way of things in blogging, I thought I would also get in early.
Merry Christmas, to all my friends in the blogging community.
There are only 128 days to go, after all.
I am in the middle of the process of trying to get my kitchen brought into the 21st century.
This has involved a huge amount of cleaning, as well as discarding numerous things that I had kept, ‘just in case’.
As a result, I am absolutley exhausted tonight, and unable to keep up with all your posts.
I am sorry, but I assure you that ‘normal service’ will be resumed soon. Meanwhile, if I have not read your post, or liked and commented, now you know why.
Best wishes, Pete.
Further to my previous post, I have managed to get my PC working. But it is definitely temperamental, and feels as if it might just die at any moment.
As a result I have ordered a new one, to be delivered next week.
Meanwhile, I will soldier on with what I can do on this one.
Thanks to everyone who offered help and advice.
I have been very inactive on Twitter for the past week, and I am not even attempting to catch up with everyone. At the moment, Twitter is like a Niagra Falls of endless tweets, and I doubt I will be doing much on there for some time to come.
But I want to thank everyone who continues to like and retweet my posts that are shared there.
You know who you are, and you are all much appreciated.
Pete 🙂 x
beetleypete 