It's Up There. Somewhere.

At first I thought this was a cool app that would mark a novel occasion to inform me when the space station would pass over my house. But it turns out that because of its distance above the earth, it’s not that seldom that it passes. It’s also strange that you have to tell Alexa which city you want the information for. You’d have thought that it could use your current location; or at least ask you whether it’s here or there. It’s good to know where it is but you need to ask it again closer to the event to find out what direction to look to see it. Okay, it’s up, but is it directly up? And how long should you look for? It’s a big sky up there. As well as telling you the direction and the horizon, it also gives you a brief weather forecast to estimate your chance of a successful viewing. 

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I think we’ve stopped caring. In a world where it’s becoming increasingly common to pay for our goods before we get a glimpse of them, it shows that we need to invest our faith in these providers and trust them to provide us with what we’ve paid for. So when things go wrong, we expect people to care about putting them right. It may not be the seller’s fault when the item breaks. But when the seller fails to provide the item, that’s an entirely different issue. We need to be seen to care to put it right. As middlemen, there’s a host of excuses that we can use to inform the customer of the delay, but it’s no good if people on the other side of the supply chain can’t deliver to the right destination. And at the moment, the easiest solution is to tell the customer to cancel their order and try again while we try and trace where it’s got to.

 

Who is Tryanuary?

Tryanuary started off as an opposition force to Dry January. People would traditionally make new year resolutions to drink less and to stay in more to save money and lose weight; especially since in the previous month they did the exact opposite to celebrate Christmas. They’d go into a winter hibernation; venturing out only for what was necessary to keep them sustained and entertained. This meant that the hospitality trade would lose out on their regular trade. Then the Truanuary movement came along and persuaded people to go out and try new things that were offered in these establishments during these quiet periods to keep these businesses afloat. Now it seems to have expanded to encourage people to try different beers; especially during the lockdown period when the cheapest and easiest alternative is a case of cans from the supermarket. There’s even giveaways. It’s a great idea, but just who are the people that are collaborating behind this? Who’s behind the mask?

A Dim Idea

Buying bulbs is confusing at the moment. If it’s an old-style bulb, then bringing an old one into the store isn’t going to be of much use if you don’t know the size of it, especially if it’s not an LED one. The first thing you’ve got to do is get the fitting right. Is it a twisty screw cap or a traditional two-point bayonet? Then you’ve got to find the right size and shape. Is it a traditional mushroom, a miniature globe, or a candle filament? There’s also different filaments and different shades of glass for different effects. Finally, there’s the wattage. The new bulbs are designed to save energy so an old 40w bulb is now something like a 7w bulb, but it’ll still be as bright even though it uses less power. Fortunately, if you buy a new LED bulb, you won’t need another for a long while as they’re supposed to last a lot longer.

I do #devilsdaughter17

The floorboards creaked as she approached the alter. She had no idea who these people were. Most of them had a drink in their hand which meant that they had left the adjacent bar to be part of the service. How could they resist? Her hips were higher than the pedestal, while her hair hung down to cover the exposed top half of her rear end. And of course, as always, she absolutely towered over everyone. The cleric, a topless hunk with a collar, strained to meet her gaze beyond her cleavage which almost overhung him.

‘The service, reverend?’ said Lucinda with a wink.

‘I do’ simply said the reverend.

Lucinda giggled. ‘Maybe later’ she said with a whisper.

The reverend shook his head. ‘My apologies madam’ he mumbled. ‘We are gathered today to witness Luke and Lucinda joining together into marriage. If anyone knows a reason why these two should not be wed, please declare it now.’

Bloody Bulbs

One of the bulbs in the lounge lights has gone. I’m hoping that it’s just a normal light bulb inside. My attempt to change this bulb has failed. It’s contained within a glass orb, and I can loosen the rim of the org to get at the gap inside. But inside the orb are hooks which act as a further securing measure to hold the orb in place; and it’s these hooks which are stopping me from removing the orb from the fittings. But we don’t really use the room lights in the room that often. There are lamps in opposite corners of the room which creates the perfect level when the TV is on as well. The only time that they’re really on is when the girls come to visit in the evening and we need some bright light to play a game; and that’s not that often. As it’s only them that use it; we just haven’t bothered as the other two bulbs still work. Still, I wonder if it creates a strain on the circuit. 

 

Thoughts? One neighbour keeps parking right in front of our kitchen window and sits in their car every night like clockwork looking into our house. Is there anything I can do about this?

Obviously you’re concerned and you have a right to be concerned as you want to be safe in your property, but have you actually tried talking to your neighbour? It’s fair to say these days that not everyone is switched on and your neighbour may not be realising what they are doing. There’s no point planning a counter to his odd behaviour if you can’t work out why he’s doing it and your reaction may make things worse; especially if he’s on public land or can claim a right to be there. You might even find that you’re able to help him and turn a neighbour into a friend once you discover the reason for his behaviour. You could keep a record of his presence to pass onto the police and make an accusation of stalking you. Failing that, it does get dark at night which gives you the perfect excuse to install some blinds or curtains to give you some privacy.