Slanty

Kids love it when adults copy them and join in their games. It makes life friendly for them because big people are doing the same thing that they’re doing, only the bigger people take a lot longer to get it done because they’ve got to find energy and use muscles that they don’t use very often and they’re a lot worse at it. They’ve got to try and put bigger heads through smaller holes that aren’t really designed for them, which can also get stuck while the kids stand about laughing before even thinking of trying to help them. This gives kids a lot more confidence to excel in the things that they’re good at, and encourages them to find other activities that everyone can join in too, though they can’t understand when other people can’t. They like it even better when they get to boss the grown-ups around, though that doesn’t happen very often.

Chasing the Dot

Most times, the Amazon man likes to deliver to us at night. It’s probably because of the new depot built just outside our town. I’d like to think it’s because that they deliver to the furthest addresses first and work their way back, but I’ve seen them deliver to neighbourhoods just around the corner from mine early on in the morning. When you’re given a delivery date, you don’t necessarily receive a time as well until the day of delivery. That means that if you’re out for the day, you’ve got to leave your safe spot unlocked for the whole of the day, which can be a bit inconvenient if you’re not going to be around. As the driver, it also means that you’ve got to drive around at night in an area that you’re not necessarily familiar with. But when I’m tracking the driver with the app, it looks like they drive through several districts during the delivery period before they reach my address. I’m wondering how many local customers do they serve and whether it would be better to offer a local pickup point?

The Power of a Brick

It’s just an inch of plastic with eight little studs. Each stud is stamped with the company logo, and underneath are three circular rings which lets it clip onto another brick or be clipped onto. This simple brick has taken the world by storm, mainly because of the creativity it inspires. You can build anything with them if you put your mind to it, and have a decent supply of what you need. You might have to fight with your peers to get what you want though. It’s not a supply problem, it’s a cost problem. They’re not cheap. But when you get a chance to see what others are doing and the quality of the builds as well, you can only try to create your own. You might have an excellent idea for a build, but if you substitute parts and colours then things might get ugly out there.

I Have Truss Issues

So what do I really think of the new Prime Minister. Well, apart from being mini, she’s certainly got her work cut out. She’s certainly got her guts to run the country and is doing whatever it takes to keep it afloat. It’s also a very hectic tome for her since she practically had to shut the government down days after her official appointment because of the loss of the Queen. Since then, there’s been a lot of instability as everyone is rushing to protect their vaults against the drop in the financial markets. What we really need is someone with balls on the international scale who’s willing to take the country to war to preserve the values we have rather than to accommodate us because of an occurring situation that we hope will go away soon. We need someone who’s going to lead us into a new future rather than someone who’s trying to preserve everything. 

Under the Sea

There was a jumbo Duplo area where we spent some time building the tallest tower that we could, and the girls came to an argument about what to do for their last activity. Chloe wanted to build another house while Mille wanted to build a car to race down the track, so in the end the only to keep them both happy was to split up. I would have liked to have spent some time looking at the shop to view the special priced sets, but unfortunately we didn’t have time, and we were ushered out before I made it to the counter. On our way out, a stormtrooper was guarding the door, and Millie got a bit scared ad refused to walk past him. I had to pick her up and just tell her that it was a man in a suit. I even got him to wave back at us but she was still nervous.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

At some stage in the Marvel universe, you get to a stage where the characters break down the fourth wall and launch interactive soliloquies with the audience. This is one such series which starts off well then really takes it to the cleaners in the finale which doesn’t make for much of a dramatic ending apart from all the characters sitting around living happily ever after with any sense of conflict forgotten. The writers have tried to be as creative as possible to make it clear that it’s a TV show, even with the addition of a classic hulk opening scene in one of the opening sequences. It’s great that the series challenges the role of a traditional superhero. It’s also referred to as a ‘comedy law show’ and there’s plenty of references to that too. There’s also some entertaining appearances from a few other MCU characters and it’s nice to see what some of these characters have been up to. 

Paw Patrol

After chatting to one of my friends who was volunteering there as a marshal, it took a while to convince the girls that there were other things to see and do, and we could always come back to this later if they liked. Armed with this information, we soon came across some large models of Paw Patrol characters, which they instantly wanted to be pictured with. There was also an aqua mosaic which they stuck their heads through so that they could become deep-sea divers, and they insisted that we do the same. There was a similar set-up with another mosaic from Paw Patrol. I left them in a pit building houses and got Mum some refreshments, then I sneaked off for a few minutes to look at the Star Wars models. As well as a few scenes, there was a huge bunker complete with guns that you load up with bricks and try to attack the bunker.  

"My best friend gave me the best advice. He said each day's a gift and not a given right. Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind."

 -Jack Nicklaus.

It’s nice when you’ve got wise friends who are willing to help you out. If you treat everything like a gift, then you’re much likely to reciprocate in return. Sometimes you might not get the opportunity to return a favour, and the only way to resolve that and keep a clean conscious is to pass the gift onto another person. This might appeal to the more adventurous person who wants to make new friends, but it’s a good way of exploring the world you by sharing experiences. It might take a while to move all those stones, and not everyone will be happy about it as you wander into other people’s territory, especially if you don’t put the stones back how you found them. But if you have no fear, does that mean that you don’t care what others may think of you? It doesn’t sound very civil at all.

Through the Doors

Once we were through the doors, we were greeted by a huge mosaic of the England flag behind a rugby shirt wishing the best of luck to England in the next international tournament. Behind these were some beautiful 3D life-sized ocean creatures diving out of the sea. Then came our first activity which was building things out of a giant pit of Lego. There were pictures of models that we had to dive in and find the right pieces to build the model in the picture. But the biggest draw for the girls was the giant inflatable slide in the centre of the room. I had to dive in and help Millie over a few times so that she was confident in having a go of it herself, but by the morning was up she was perfectly happy to dive in and make a go of it on her own.

What Happens If Putin Nukes London?

People outside of the M25 will rejoice. We’ll be free of all that focus within the concrete carpark. Our taxes (if we decide to have them) will go into our own projects that do our local community some good rather than pay some expensive politician to waste our resources to keep his car running and his second house clean. We may even branch off and form our own tribes and civilisations. We’ll be able to construct some sort of power plant out of the remaining nuclear waste to supply the nearby towns and cities for the next fifty years or so. The north will suddenly become popular despite the cold, and Scotland will be a lot more attractive. A lot of historical relics will be lost, but the idea of it will continue to be remembered through the internet. And a lot of people will be upset and will be speaking to other countries about retaliating before popping over to do something about it.

Yorkshire's Real Heritage Pubs by David Gamston

Yorkshire's Real Heritage Pubs by Dave Gamston
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It’s an attractive book with photographs and interesting illustrations on every page. There’s a good history of the current national pub scene and it clearly portrays what the guide is trying to achieve, but a bit of local history about previous and current companies who own these pubs would have also been appreciated. Most of these pubs are in towns and cities and the book focuses on the pubs themselves rather than associating with other attractions within the area, which is often quite separating as sometimes a little local knowledge may be a bit more colourful in informing the reader what helped or hindered the pub to its current status, especially if the reader isn’t local to the area. I would have liked to have known a bit more history as to why the pub got its name. Was the Big Six named for a set of terraced houses knocked into one? Is there any pigeon-racing memorabilia at the Three Pigeons or is it modelled on another pub elsewhere? We shall never know. There’s a lot of assumptions that the reader has some knowledge already, particularly with some of the terminology when it comes to describing the interiors.

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Friendships

What makes a good friendship? What can you get out of this human connection? How do you decide the criteria for a friend? Is it someone that you can manipulate easily and take advantage of what they have to offer? Is it someone that you enjoy spending time with and share similar interests? Is it someone that can help you with your problems? Hopefully it’s someone with a combination of all of the above unless you keep relationships with specific people for specific reasons. Do you value someone who’s resourceful and can get you places for the best price (if anything at all) or do you value someone’s companionship because they make you feel warm or loved? Is there someone who feels that way towards you but you don’t return it? Maybe there’s someone out there with a combination of all of these elements. How long do friendships last? When do people drift away? Is it because they’ve found something that’s better suited to them? Has an argument taken place and can it be resolved with gifts, apologies and forgiveness?

Brick Live!

I’d organised a day out with the girls. It was inside but it something a bit different. It was a Lego exhibition show with many characters and models to view alongside a large section where we could build things ourselves. Because the show was going to be busy, they’d split the day into two so we were only able to attend the morning session. We could have taken our time to get there and go by train which would have been more fun for the girls, but we’d be losing out on the time available for the event. I ended up driving over there which worked out cheaper for the four of us so long as I prebooked the parking. We negotiated through the maze of roads to find the right carpark then we had a bit of a walk to the main entrance. We were lucky that it wasn’t raining though.

I Like the Way you Move #dreamdiary 141

I’m catching a bus to a meeting with my school crush. I’ve got no idea why she wants to come to this meeting, but I’m delighted with her company. Along our journey to the bus stop, I bump into someone used to go to these meetings. We stop to chat, but my girl carries onto the bus station. After five minutes, I explain that I need to catch up with her. I run to the bus station where the departures are laid out like trains. I head to the stairs and the steps are that narrow that I’m able to slide over the edges of them as if I’m surfing. I pay for my day ticket on the bus and it departs but the girl is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she’s realised what she’s getting into and she’s made her escape. Or maybe she’s getting on with my friend at the next stop. 

Work Improvements

We had a visit from the store improvement team. One of the things that wanted to look at was the process that we undertook for each task, including the actions we took to making it happen and listing every single step. Once this was done, the list was placed on the wall. Then every time we had to do that step, we had to take a sticker and sign our name and the date on it. I think the entire point was to see how often a task was done and what the benefits would be if we used a different method. The problem was that we had to focus on the job at hand and often we didn’t understand that we had to go back and complete this task when they weren’t on their visits. It would have better if they had observed us. Sadly, they’re not with us nowadays. The company decided to close the whole department and make the tea involved with the project become redundant. There’s no longer any interest or forum dedicated to improving things.

Call for Help

In theory, your smart speaker is supposed to help you, even though it’s got no arms or legs. So when you ask it for help that involves a physical presence, you’d think that it would be able to summon someone physical in an emergency. Apparently, this needs setting up. I’m discovering this only now after three years of ownership. You’d have thought that as well as an e-mail prompt, this would be part of the set-up process. It could mention it as one of those ‘by the way’ messages you receive when you’ve finished attempting to make it do something else. It’s also supposed to be linked to your phone, but I haven’t received a single notification about setting up emergency contacts. And now that I’ve discovered this function, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere on the app that provides this feature anymore, despite there still being a listing for it on the website. Stupid machine.

Jetlag

We’re on a mission to get back home. We’re trying not to sleep during the day but it’s a long flight.   Our flight has landed on time in the evening, but unfortunately we have to stay the course and wait for our appointed bus to turn up to take us in the direction of home. There’s not much of a glorious place to wait. There’s a makeshift portacabin with a couple of plastic chairs. We could have waited inside the airport, but we’ve just spent all day inside a metal cylinder tube breathing in artificial air and we want to feel something fresh on our faces, even if it’s diesel smoke-stained air. Our bus arrives, but we’re travelling back at night and I have to deal with a frail old lady who’s sitting cold and just wants to get home. I’ve also got to summon a taxi to collect us once our bus reaches its destination.

 

Bretell's Barn

He’s tall, loud, nearly bold, and fearless, and doesn’t let anyone stand in the way of what he wants to do, not even his partner. This makes him very confident, but also boisterous and stubborn at times. He likes him solidarity which is why he lives in the middle of the countryside. He can switch off when he wants to. He’s an easy person to read though and you can watch the stress build up in him. He’s been to some very remote places, and he has an ambition to travel to every city in the world regardless of cost, method or status which has resulted in some great trips to some very strange areas. I suppose that when you live in the countryside, anything can happen. There’s floods to deal with, visits from sheep who live in the neighbouring field, and watching your pet house rabbit invite a duck into the living room. And I’ve never seen so many pictures of a wall.

Behind Bars

Quite rightly, the track is fenced off from the public. There’s a lovely row of lights followed by tinted window which makes it difficult to see anyone inside. It’s not ideal if you want to wave away your loved ones. We’re protected by the Perspex glass. I’m not convinced by the gap covered by the red velvet robe though. And there’s always going to someone who’s going to use the barrier as a foothold to climb up on top of the train. There’s a fin at the front, but whether this is to discourage others from nesting on the roof or to disguise the train as a shark remains to be seen. It’s all nice and shiny apart from the front which looks a bit grazed. It’s as if the front has already been prised open with a can opener and it’s been glued back together with some poly cement.

Tales of the Top #vampress 10

I’m sorry to hear of the problems that you’re having in your town. Something strange is happening here also. A few nights ago in the mist, my father said he saw some strange new landmass arise during the night. He and his fellow sailors could hear a woman giggling as well, but they could not work out where the voice came from. The next day, a new house had settled at the bottom of the cliffs. It stood on its own landmass but it was not there before. All the locals gathered around. How could such a house arrive in the middle of the night? And how would people approach it to make house calls? The only logic was if a boat had got stranded with a house built on top, but that still didn’t explain the new land that surrounded it. As the people watched on the cliffs above, a rumbling began. 

Magnet Power

I’ve always wondered how you’d get magnets to make things float. You’d have to restrict the movement of them somehow. You could fix one magnet to a surface then build a restricted tube around it to ensure that the other magnet would have a confined escape path. Where do these mysterious materials come from? Are they pieces that are chipped off the opposite poles of the earth when whey required materials to build in the centre? The weird thing is that we don’t see the train fly, it just moves horizontally. Do they manipulate it with electricity? And how big are these magnets? I never got the opportunity to see the train in action either as I was on it most of the time. Perhaps I’d have another opportunity if I wasn’t tied to a schedule. And where can I get my hands on a simple set of magnets nowadays to do my own experiments?

Superhub

It’s all very well building a new super building with attractive parkland outside of it but you need some decent components to fill it with. It’s no good preparing to rent out the space if you haven’t got anyone interested. And that’s not going to look good for the locals, especially if you’ve disrupted their lives by digging up the road and amending the facilities and routes that your new building requires. You’re going to need to advertise your building to get people interested to support your project. Everyone’s going to want their name on the outside regardless of whether they’re adjacent to the window or not. You also need to be able to get people to and from your building unless it’s a very exclusive one. The items on the roof look a bit ugly though. You could build a fake roof in front of it to hide it all.

Faster than the Speed of Magnets

I’m waiting to board the fastest train in the world! For something’s that so high-profile, I’m amazed that there aren’t greater security screening facilities compared to what else that we’ve experienced in China. Amazingly, it doesn’t seem that crowded. I wonder how many people use this as part of their daily commute or what the fare is. Once we got going, it didn’t seem that much faster than any other high-speed train that I’ve been on. Perhaps it’s because the outside world is placed further away from the track. There’s not much to see. A lot of us are focusing on the passenger information board that tells us our current speed, but it’s easily plausible that someone could have just typed text in. inside, it’s just like any other train carriage on the planet. I wonder how often it gets delayed. Apart from a regular humming noise because of the magnets, it’s very hard to spot the difference. 

 

Beans in a Box

I wanted to get my niece a present. The item that I got cost a little less than what I’d wanted to spend, so I decided to get some Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans to go with it. I originally wanted some chocolate frogs but I knew that the present would be gifted while she was on holiday so there was a could chance that they would melt. The generation that grew up watching Harry Potter is aging now so these sweets are becoming harder to find at retailers. Perhaps they’re taking longer to sell or maybe there’s a government-imposed sugar tax that’s driven the price up. The pandemic may also have had its part to play. The only way that I could track them down was through an order service on eBay. This didn’t fill me with confidence since anything could have been done to them or they could have been disguised to look like sweets. I didn’t receive any complaints about them so I assumed that all was well.

Buddha's Buddies

At first glance, this looks like a load of vines have taken over a wall and they’ve been tastefully wrapped around wooden frames. A closer glance reveals that they’re golden statues; through there’s some vegetation towards the bottom. Some of the figures look like they’re conjuring up others out of extra-long arms. It’s all a bit ghoulish. There’s even statues of their predecessors mounted on the walls who are looking in on the action. Ol’ Buddy in the middle is soaking it all in while his lefthand man is preparing for a gig with a lute. There’s not a single person who’s not frowning in this diorama. His righthand man might be his protector; though he’s a bit on the chubby side and he’s showing a bit of leg to those below him. It looks like Buddy’s aware of this though as he's managed to make a manifest of himself appear behind him to keep an eye on him so that he can have the last laugh.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reasons for existing"

-Albert Einstein. 

It’s annoying when people ask you too many questions. In one way it’s flattering because they’re trying to tap you for your knowledge and experience while attempting to eliminate their helplessness, but in another way it demonstrates that they’re not prepared to take risks and find out for themselves, and that you’re doing all the hard work for them while they don’t even try. At some point you’ve got to tell them that you don’t have all the answers, and that even though you’re saving time for them, they’re wasting time for you, though if you’ve got time to waste than that’s great. They may be curious, but they’ve got to figure it out for themselves. Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual, and literally any component can malfunction at any time as there’s just too much maintenance to keep things in optimum condition That manual would be enormous. The troubleshooting section alone would take ages to reference to a standard format that would comply with everything.

Beer Breaks by Tim Webb

Beer Breaks by Tim Webb
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This little pocketbook may give you ideas of where to go but it doesn’t take all the hassle of the research. It gives you inklings of what the area’s like and there’s a small map on each page to show you where the city is, but it’s a shame that there’s not a map to help you plan your own route since only direct connections are mentioned. This can be quite an elitist book at times. Some of the language assumes that the reader already knows about what is being referred to. There’s quite a few cities involved but some of them haven’t got much coverage and a few of them even asks you to fill in the blanks! What this guide does do is tell you about value, though it also advises when you’re not going to get anywhere near it but it’s worth going for the experience anyway. All you need is to grab a travel deal and get adventuring.

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Lost Boys

This is a classic 80’s film full of fun teen references, though it could have been a lot darker. Its introduction becomes surprisingly fun without being too gory, and, with the exception of the supporting vampires, contains some great characters with cheesy catchphrases. There’s some early appearances from some well-known stars and if you don’t know their name you’ve certainly seen them in something else. I was quite surprised when one character wasn’t the head vampire only to be contradicted later. It’s great that the setting is a holiday resort which explains why some kids are getting far more responsibility than they should be and it’s easier to disguise disappearances. It’s set in an age that some of the acts are so outrageous that society just doesn’t know how to react. It becomes a little too comic as to what can be gotten away with. It could have been a lot darker, but it certainly makes vampires look cool. Now I know what that reference in The Big Bang Theory was.

The Last Pagoda

This must be the last pagoda in the temple. It’s certainly the last one that we looked at. I think the idea was that you could throw some coins in the pot or scan the QR code to make a donation. It could be a secret entrance to a complex underground network of tunnels. I wouldn’t count on it though. It’s a good job that my phone wasn’t in internet mode otherwise it might have done. I wonder if that’s why the photo became cloudy. We did exit through a rear building which very much looked like a cafeteria. The corners of the pagoda stretches on and on. It looks like it’s been hung from the rooftops of the adjacent buildings rather than being supported by the poles that it covers. It's a shame that we won’t know the meaning of the symbols, although some look like animals and one even looks like a cable car.

Treehouse #dreamdiary 140

We’re in a house in the trees! It’s a huge structure built around a set of sturdy redwoods. There’s loads of bedrooms each with its own theme and there’s even a slide from the top floor leading into a private pool. Because the house is so vast, it has its own camera system so that parents can keep track of where the kids are. The bedrooms consist of bunk beds that are mounted high on the wall and have a huge floor space for playing in. The rooms are painted white with woodland colours and murals. He kitchen has a snakes and ladders theme. The whole building is a smart house which can be accessed by a white egg-shaped tablet in each room, or it can be streamed to a smart device. There’s quiet rooms for the parents with relaxing lunges and TVs while the kids play on the rope course outside. It’s a house that you’ll never want to leave. 

Party Priests

There’s a lot going on here. There’s a whole gathering in the tower, but oddly they’re looking at what’s in front of them rather than down at us to judge us. I doubt if there are any deity statues that allow you to look down on them (unless it’s placed on a cliff face). While the golden one applauds what’s in front of him, the tin one on the bottom left looks as if he’s asking to see your ticket. The guy in the middle is his back-up bouncer and he’s got a ninja impregnated in his stomach who’s ready to jump out if there’s any trouble. the guy behind him looks a bit more noble, perhaps he’s the manager. The guy on the right is the Sergeant-at-Arms who’s attempting to hide the guy behind him who’s clearly in party mode. It must be a captivating show. There’s even a baby with a beard who’s enjoying it.