Not Very Well

Kew Gardens, October 2022

I went to the GP. This is a very infrequent occurrence, thankfully, and I actually can't remember the last time I was there other than to see the nurse for travel vaccinations before I went to Brazil, and that was 2019. I consider myself very lucky in this regard, especially in comparison to the rest of my family and many of my friends.  The only major issue I have is with the stupid teeth. I now seem to spend half my time either eating, cleaning the aligners or brushing my teeth.

Anyway, this isn't about my health, but what struck me was that despite the doctor being very clear in her diagnosis, prognosis and prescribed treatment, as soon as I walked out of the door I became uncertain of what I was supposed to do. How often was the treatment? For how long? When was I supposed to go back for a review? But the miracle of modern technology means that as soon as I got home I looked it up on my online patient record, and there it all was, just as she had typed it, with the consultation notes, treatment, prescription and everything else.

Unfortunately, the health theme continued when mum lost her balance in the kitchen, fell on her back and bumped her head. She got herself to bed and the paramedics found no significant injury, which seems very lucky.

I wrote the previous paragraph very early in the week. Since then, it's been tough.  Mum has been unable to do much except lie in bed, Sister D, Lola II and myself have been doing our best, we really have, but our ignorance of The System combined with other factors have resulted in a very difficult period that has consumed a great deal of time and energy from all of us plus paramedics on two occasions, a dear family friend, a District Nurse (three or four times so far), a Social Worker, the GP and the pharmacist. It continues.

While all this was going on I have had three (count 'em, THREE) dental encounters - one at the orthodontist which I think should have been a telephone consultation because it was just a check-in, then a normal dental appointment with the dentist and hygienist, then the main event at the orthodontist where they fixed 'attachments' to my teeth which I believe will eventually be used to connect elastic bands that pull the teeth about. This wasn't painful, but it was tedious and uncomfortable. They also gave me the remaining retainers for the whole course (37 sets in all) plus a snazzy gadget that holds my mobile phone and a cheek retractor while I run an app that takes pictures which are then sent for review. It is very 21st century and an extraordinary contrast to my teenage braces which were full metal with wires and created open wounds in my mouth as well as destroying my fragile teenage self-esteem. I didn't smile for a year.

All this on top of a funeral yesterday of one of the Buddhists, younger than me, who succumbed to cancer in just a couple of months from diagnosis. It's been a very difficult week, and it's not yet over.

Party!

Vajraloka, May 2022

UJ is back! She notified me of her return flight, arriving at Birmingham on a day with absolutely no train service because of the strike, and at the same time as I was due to play in a badminton match. A friend kindly offered to meet her at the airport and drive her home. We exchanged Christmas gifts - a mug with a cat design for her, chocolates and a body scrub for me. Her family is not in too bad a situation despite living in Kyiv, because they are in an old apartment that uses gas for heating and cooking, so despite the power cuts they are warm. She tells me that Kyiv has also improved its missile defences so they aren't too badly off on that front either. Still, she is glad to be here rather than there.

In the past, the Christmas Day celebrated in Ukraine corresponded with that of the Russian church on 7th January. UJ tells me that because all things Russian are now distasteful there is a move to celebrate on 25th December instead. But this year, our amazing local coordinator who is devoting her whole life to helping the refugees arranged a party for all the Ukrainians in the district, and their hosts. The Pump Room was the venue, and such was the demand that there was no room for hosts! This very much disappointed UJ who was keen for me to attend, and in the end I did go for a couple of hours, which was really all I could tolerate.

The local MP was also there and made a little speech - he has been very helpful in trying to get the right visas and accommodation and no doubt much more I don't know about. Children ran about and screamed in the way that children do when they are excited and having fun, one little boy had a major meltdown when his helium balloon escaped, there was a high speed collision between two of the children, but on the whole harmony reigned. Before I arrived a violinist and a singer had performed, I sampled some of the traditional Ukrainian Christmas dishes, a local ukulele band played, and I left before the disco.

We lost the badminton match that I was playing when UJ arrived, but the same players plus UJ convened for a pub quiz on Sunday night. We didn't win that either, but it was fun and we're planning to do it again in a fortnight. I had to forgo the next badminton match because I had a tooth extracted which had shown up on the latest X-ray as Not Very Well. My dentist is lovely. After I had childishly complained about having to endure the procedure and then pay for it we got down to business. The tooth was actually broken (horizontally) which hadn't shown up on the X-ray, but he got it all out without any fuss, and sadly agreed with the orthodontist that another extraction would probably be needed. So, more fun with teeth to come.

After dosing myself with painkillers UJ took me to the cinema that evening. She had asked a couple of times whether I wanted to see the latest blockbuster Avatar 3D movie, and I had said no, but when she asked again I realised that she just needed some company, so there I was on Monday night with my 3D glasses. It's actually the first proper 3D film I've seen - I went with Lola II and Sister D aeons ago but that wasn't a proper movie with a story, just a demonstration of what 3D could do. Avatar was an extraordinary and astonishing visual spectacle, and I have no idea how it was made, but it was much too long and I wasn't particularly interested in the story. In fact, I found myself feeling sad that so many people and animals were portrayed as being violently killed or maimed, and wondered why this continues to feature so prominently in so many films, while showing something as relatively innocuous as smoking (or even vaping) is now completely unacceptable.

A trip north followed, to see H+B and also the man I met at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival who was interested in mum's button accordion, but subsequently decided he didn't want it. We had a nice chat, he's volunteering at the Festival again but I'm not, he handed over the accordion and maybe we'll be in touch next time I'm back up north.

Vajraloka, May 2022

Another year ended

Buda palace, December 2022

Happy New Year to all my 30 or so readers. If you've been waiting for an invitation to let me know who you are, please do write me a comment! I'm intrigued.

Anyway, the old year ended with a few lovely events and a couple that weren't so much fun. I managed to achieve a blood donation, the 49th that is recorded with the service (although I'm pretty sure that a few in the early days have been missed). Then there was my initiation into the Invisalign system which is going to straighten my teeth with the aim of preventing them falling out and helping to reduce the chronic refractory periodontitis. However, one tooth is already scheduled for extraction in January, and both the orthodontist and periodontist are pessimistic about another one, and I'm starting to think they might be right. I have many, many appointments to come so if you are a fan of teeth you will find much to enjoy in the next 18 months.

Among the happier events, Pat the dog has come to stay again, this time for a whole week without respite because the training centre is closed. This is the longest time that I've been the primary carer for any living being. She is a sweet dog and getting on well with her training too, and she would very much like me to play with her now but I am writing this instead, so she has just settled herself on the floor and emitted a sigh of resignation.

I joined Lola II and Mr M for Christmas for a change, and went to see 'It's a Wonderful Life' with them on Christmas Eve, For several years they have gone for a lunchtime walk and picnic with a group of friends on Christmas Day, so that's what we did. The day included a Secret Santa event (with gifts costing no more than £3), the playing and singing of carols, supper, and pass the parcel. I'm not sure what my perfect Christmas would be, but despite this involving much more interaction with other people than I would wish it was actually pretty good. Thank you Lola II and Mr M.

Between Christmas and New Year, apart from the blood donation and Pat the dog, I had a visit from a chap to fix the induction hob after it was previously fixed. Poor UJ had dropped a heavy cast iron pot lid on it and cracked the glass - as I returned home she met me at the front door to tell me that something dreadful had happened, and I thought it was some awful calamity involving Russian missiles and family in Kyiv, so when it was just cracked glass it felt quite trivial in comparison. Anyway, the repair man came and replaced it with very little fuss, and if I had paid more attention the first time then a second visit wouldn't have been necessary. The problem was a mismatch between the markings on the glass and the touch activation, so that I had to touch the controls about 1 cm to the right of the marking. Fixing this took the second repair man about 5 minutes.

I had the option to go to the Buddhist Centre for New Year's Eve, but I couldn't quite face the uncertainty of taking Pat with me not knowing how she would behave, so I just watched a film and read a book and had a quiet time. I took advantage of Pat's presence by arranging walks with five different friends - one of them after Pat had gone because we were both too busy beforehand.

And Ilf came for another day of helping out with things that need drilling, painting and/or two people, including hanging pictures, fixing the downstairs toilet door and the verandah outside, and a bit of painting. I did all the necessary cleaning following Pat's visit, although all her bedding is still in the boot of the car ready to go to the launderette. All is shipshape again and looking good for 2023.

Pat the dog

What I've been reading

Close Range: Brokeback Mountain and Other Stories
by Annie Proulx

"Tales of loneliness, quick violence, and the wrong kinds of love. Each of the portraits in Close Range reveals characters fiercely wrought with precision and grace."

All set in the wildness of Wyoming, the stories resemble one another in the setting and the general indignities of living in a harsh land, usually without enough money, reliant on climate and neighbours and forever on the brink of personal, emotional, financial or psychological catastrophe. There weren't any heart-warming tales of people getting along just fine, but she always writes interesting and believable characters even if you don't warm to them. And it's astonishing that the essence of the award-winning film is all contained here in just 35 pages. Unlike many film adaptations, in this case the story and the film are equally great.

Not About Being Good: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Ethics
by Subhadramati

"Buddhist ethics are not about conforming to a set of conventions, not about "being good" in order to gain material, social, or religious rewards. Instead, living ethically springs from the awareness that other people are essentially no different from ourselves."

I really liked this basic book on ethics, mainly because she uses such good examples. I borrowed it from someone else in the group and I'm slightly inclined to buy my own copy, but not enough to do it at the moment.

The New York Trilogy
by Paul Auster

"In each story the search for clues leads to remarkable coincidences in the universe as the simple act of trailing a man ultimately becomes a startling investigation of what it means to be human."

These were three strangely interconnected stories, each containing one or more characters from the other stories and one even including the author as a character. It was a clever device and I almost wanted more of it, even though it made the plots slightly confusing. This is one of the books on my 'classic' list, and there's another one on there by the same author that I might try.

Music & Silence
by Rose Tremain

"In the year 1629, a young English lutenist named Peter Claire arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV's Royal Orchestra. From the moment when he realises that the musicians perform in a freezing cellar underneath the royal apartments, Peter Claire understands that he's come to a place where the opposing states of light and dark, good and evil, are waging war to the death."

A long book but an enjoyable one, a saga masquerading as a historical novel by being set in Denmark in the 17th century. No complaints about this one.

Budapest

Memorial in grounds of Great Synagogue, Budapest, December 2022

It was a lovely trip with my two friends A & S, ostensibly to visit the Christmas markets as we had done in previous years in Dusseldorf and Munich. I didn't make any notes as I went along, and it now feels like it was ages ago, so I'll probably have forgotten some of the best bits, but hey! blogging is supposed to be fun, not work.

We flew on Friday and came back on Monday - Friday and Saturday were very wet; Sunday and Monday were very cold. The line for taxis at the airport was so long that we took the bus to the hotel, which was modern and in a convenient location although it took me two nights to work out how to turn the heating down. After we arrived on Friday we had a quick foray into the nearest market, but because of the pouring rain we were lucky to find a café with space indoors for us. Budapest, like Madeira, doesn't generally cater for vegetarians, but the soups were terrific. Luckily I like soup, and this was the first good one: garlic cream soup with croutons.

We started on Saturday with a wet walk along the river as far as the poignant memorial to the shooting of the Jews in 1944 on the bank of the Danube. After another foray into the Christmas markets A and I joined a pretty good walking tour while S went off to the thermal baths. The tour was of the Jewish quarter, although being Saturday the synagogues weren't open to tourists; we returned to the Great Synagogue on Sunday. The tour ended in a 'ruined bar' which was an extraordinary space comprising many rooms and many bars with glitter balls, interesting lighting, plants, repurposed furniture including chairs made from a bath tub and a piano among other things, and covered with graffiti, which was encouraged.

That evening we went to a restaurant that had been recommended and which had very peculiar decor including upside down model buildings stuck to the ceiling, mannequins, and an inexplicable model plane. Soup: mushroom with strips of egg and smoked quails eggs - another triumph.

On Sunday the rain stopped but the temperature dropped. The famous Chain Bridge was closed for renovation so after visiting the synagogue and lunch (pumpkin soup) we walked across a less interesting bridge to the Buda side. We rode up to the palace via the funicular railway and visited the labyrinths that had been formed by underground water and then repurposed for storage and various other activities over the years. Bean and smoked tofu soup was wonderful for dinner - I can barely remember any of the main courses but the soups stood out.

I learned quite a bit about the history of Hungary especially in relation to the second World War; if we'd stayed longer I'd have liked to go on one of the other walking tours that focused on Communism in Hungary. We were reminded that Mr Rubik of the cube was Hungarian, as were Theodore Herzl (father of modern Zionism), Tony Curtis's father, Estee Lauder and Harry Houdini. On Monday we finished our business in various markets, punctuated by the need to go indoors to warm up every couple of hours. We were concerned that the cold snap in the UK might close Birmingham airport, but everything was fine and even the trains were running.

Interior of 'ruined bar'

Scooting and gaming

View from Funchal botanic gardens, November 2022

Coming back to collect the car after my trip to Madeira I helped mum to make her first excursion on the mobility scooter, down at the park at the bottom of the road. She has since made further forays and reports that so far she is not enjoying the experience at all. The pavements in the neighbourhood are not well maintained and  the hill is steep so she constantly feels as though she will tip off. Nevertheless she is persisting and I hope it will become easier with practice.

Back at home UJ's residence permit arrived, and she has returned (via Lisbon) to Kyiv where her parents still live - I think she has been missing friends and family a great deal. She wants to persuade her parents to move to Poland where they have access to an apartment for the winter, given the harsh conditions that a Ukrainian winter without reliable electricity will bring.

Then I went to Mr MXF's Christmas party. Despite doing very little for him in a highly sporadic and unreliable manner, I was still invited to lunch at a very nice pub followed by board games at a Games Café, where there was much merriment and where Mr MXF's daughter won everything there was to be won, although she had an advantage as she had played most of the games before. Mr MXF has since reassured me that what I've been doing has actually been very profitable...

Somehow time has become a scarce commodity as it's been a week since I returned from a long weekend in Budapest and nothing written beyond brief notes. I've been turned away from a blood donor session because apparently Madeira presents a risk of tropical infection that requires a 28-day wait before donation can be accepted, so I've rebooked for just after Christmas. But I even skipped badminton last night because I just needed to go to bed early, so the account of Budapest will have to wait until next time.

Orchids growing wild in Madeira

Madeira

Madeira, November 2022

I have been on a holiday - an ordinary, normal holiday, not a retreat, with people who aren't Buddhists, and it is surprising how long it has been since the last time I did this. It was a walking holiday in Madeira, led by a very enthusiastic local man whose catchphrase was "I love it" (delivered as one word).

The day before I left I went to see mum and dad for the important job of trying out and buying a mobility scooter. A local company came to the house with two to try, which were essentially identical except for the battery size. Mum was a bit nervous but I had a go on the pavement outside the house, and she sat on it so we adjusted the seat and handlebar to suit her.

Then off I went to Madeira via Stansted, and joined a group of twelve people, aged from about 30 to 75. Most were English but there was one young woman from Switzerland and another woman originally from Hungary but now living in the USA. It was a good group, nobody too annoying and all fit enough for the walking, which was at times very strenuous indeed. Madeira is volcanic, it has mountains, and water courses called levadas which have been cut into cliffs in order to route water to where it's needed. Every inch of viable land is cultivated, mostly with sugar cane, bananas and potatoes, although we saw avocado, mango and citrus trees too.

The vertical stripes are vents

The first walk was on the eastern peninsula, and as it was a popular walk and a Saturday there were a lot of people about. The main attraction was the eroded coastline and volcanic geology, although there was a swimming area for those who wished. The next walk was in the north - we were taken by car up to the start, and although we started at altitude there was still more climbing to do, and a long descent which punished the knees. It was the first proper holiday for my walking poles, and I'm not sure how I would have managed without them. I don't put a lot of weight on them for climbing or descending, but they provide a third and fourth point of contact with the ground, so helping me to balance without additional strain on the legs.

Don't look down

The third walk took us to a National Park where we walked alongside another levada to a waterfall. The description of the holiday had mentioned that it wasn't suitable for those with vertigo, and this walk demonstrated why - the path was narrow with the cliff on one side and a sheer drop of many thousands of feet on the other, sometimes protected by a rickety two-string fence, sometimes not. Our leader ("I love it!") described some of the native and non-native plants while I looked anywhere except down and leaned away from the edge. There was another long descent down to a seaside village where the sun shone for beer and ice cream, and we briefly visited a rum distillery, tasted the product and had a shopping opportunity. I'm not a rum aficionado but it tasted fine and obviously I didn't buy any.

Spot the rainbow

The next day we were up before dawn and taken up above the cloud line to see the sun come up. The plan for the day was to walk between the three highest peaks of the island, and it was a shame about the cloud cover below us otherwise I imagine the views would have been tremendous, although I enjoyed the views of the clouds below. The peaks were reached along well-maintained paths and many hundreds (if not thousands) of steps - walking poles helped to support jelly legs towards the end of this climb. Thankfully there was a road up to the final stop so we didn't have to make the final descent on foot.

The last day of walking was the least interesting. It included all the elements of the previous days - huge ascents via stairs, walking alongside a levada, cultivated terraces, narrow vertiginous paths with a sheer drop down a cliff to one side, expansive views, punishing descents and the opportunity for beer and ice cream at the end - but nothing new. On our last full day we were let loose in Funchal. I chose to wander around the market and then ascend by cable cars to the Botanic Garden, my usual haunt, and it was a really good one. 

Spot the bird

The weather was perfect throughout - sunny but not too hot, although it had drizzled slightly on the first day and threatened a little rain on another day. Coats and hats were frequently put on and taken off at each break. Each day we had a hotel breakfast and then bought ourselves ingredients for a packed lunch from a supermarket (or surreptitiously collected goods from the breakfast buffet), which was ideal for a thrifty vegetarian like me. Evening meals were less satisfactory. The holiday notes mentioned that Madeira does not cater for vegetarians, and they were right. Alongside plenty of glorious fish and meat dishes, there were at best two options for vegetarians, such as spaghetti with vegetables, pizza with vegetables (the first time I've had pizza topped with carrot and broccoli as well as olives), omelette and chips, vegetable soup and garlic bread. 

To add insult to injury the prices for the vegetarian dishes in Funchal restaurants were comparable with the non-vegetarian dishes, so on the final day I split off from the main group with two other women who had not been enjoying the restaurant choices so far and we went to a different place. They had the local speciality of limpets then seared tuna; I still only had the choice of vegetable soup or omelette, but the omelette was good and only a fraction of the price compared with previous days. The other vegetarian woman went with the majority on that last night and regretted it as she was forced to choose exorbitantly priced spaghetti with vegetables again.

Aside from the scary cliffs and uninspiring vegetarian food, I enjoyed it, and both of these issues were mentioned in the tour notes so I can't say I wasn't warned. Apologies for the delay - it's taken an age to get this written and photos sorted...

21st century music delivery

Vajraloka, May 2022

Reading about the adventures of Lola II and Mr M in the Far East (via their app) makes this blog seems very parochial. I have done a small amount of travel, but only to London where I was house-sitting again for the travellers. I therefore had a shorter journey to visit mum and dad on the occasion of mum's 90th birthday. Happy Birthday mumsy!

I also went into central London to meet Cousin Y, and at Sister D's recommendation we visited the Wallace Collection. It's amazing - we had a guided tour that lasted over an hour and only scratched the surface. I had no idea! They use all that modern technology though, providing information via scannable QR codes rather than printed labels, and I wasn't feeling hi-tech enough to start messing with that. So I don't think I got the most out of the visit, and I'd like to go back again.

There's been some Buddhism as always, including a Team Meeting where my role is generally Chair, Secretary, Minute Taker and everything else except Treasurer. The person who is supposed to look after the finances invariably turns up saying he hasn't actually looked at the bank account but he thinks it's fine. I also took UJ to the Birmingham Buddhist Centre for a festival day along with my neighbour and another friend, both of whom are being extremely kind and offering to spend time with her - and in the case of my neighbour, also offering up her cat for play time. And another friend and I went off to a local cub scout group to talk about Buddhism. Trying to introduce meditation and explaining ethical principles to a very fidgety group of 8 to 10 year-olds really highlights the gaps in your own knowledge.

Saving the most exciting event until last - I have bought a new amplifier! Although I still occasionally play CDs, and vinyl even more occasionally, since being introduced to Spotify by Mr MXF I have mostly been streaming music through the downstairs hi-fi using a Chromecast audio gadget. Recently the amp has started to become a little unreliable. They made things to last back then - I bought it 40 years ago with my first real wage from employment (a temporary job at the Gas Board before university), and it cost £79.90, when VAT rates were 15% and CDs hadn't been invented. The speakers and cables I bought at the same time (£80.00) are still going strong, the cassette deck died many years ago, and the turntable (£87.50) is a little unreliable but I barely use it now. I never use the tuner; I really should sell it, but it's old fashioned analogue not DAB and I doubt it will fetch very much. [Quick look on ebay - maybe a tenner if I'm lucky.]

I was walking past a fancy music shop in town and went inside on a whim to see what's what nowadays. The man there did exactly what I wanted, taking on board all my preferences and requirements and offering a couple of alternatives. So when I got back from London I went back with my credit card. The new system has barely any external controls, not even an on/off switch, and is managed almost entirely via apps and WiFi. It does have an input for the CD player but not for anything else, and the app incorporates Internet radio, and - most excitingly - I have a second linked speaker for the kitchen, which will replace 'turning up the volume in the living room with the kitchen door open' to hear music in the kitchen. It's such high quality too. And the price? That has increased ten-fold in 40 years. But I hope I won't have to buy another for the next 40 years.

What I've been reading

Time Travel in Einstein's Universe
by J. Richard Gott

"Although scientists are not yet taking out patents on a time machine, they are investigating whether it is possible under the laws of physics. In Newton's three-dimensional world this would have been inconceivable. But with Einstein's theory of relativity a fourth dimension - time - enters the frame."

I found this in a free book exchange at a bus stop in Wales, where the standard of literature was far higher than I could have expected. It's quite a technical read and I couldn't possibly recount the arguments about the curvature of space time and physics of black holes, but essentially the case is made for the possibility of time travel albeit in very theoretical circumstances.

Facing Mount Kanchenjunga: An English Buddhist in the Eastern Himalayas
by Sangharakshita

"In 1950 Kalimpong was a lively trading town in the corner of India that borders Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. Finding a welcome in this town, nestled high in the mountains, were a bewildering array of guests and settlers: ex-colonial military men, missionaries, incarnate Tibetan lamas, exiled royalty and Sangharakshita, a young English monk attempting to establish a Buddhist movement for local youngsters."

This second volume of autobiography covers a number of years in Kalimpong, a town on the border of India and Nepal, when nothing much really happened except that Sangharakshita meets a lot of interesting people and goes on trips with casks containing the Sacred Relics of two of the Buddha's closest disciples. Despite the unpromising material, he's a good enough writer to make it readable, and I'm enjoying following the unusual journey towards the founding of a western Buddhist community.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera

"In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence, we feel 'the unbearable lightness of being' not only as the consequence of our pristine actions but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine."

Lent to me by the same friend who lent me the Annie Proulx book that I loved, I'm not as keen on this one. Lots of philosophising about promiscuity and the feelings of betrayal of wives, a fair bit of self-justification from the males, and not much more than silence from the female lovers. The setting of Czechoslovakia at the time of the Prague Spring and the subsequent invasion was interesting, but not the navel gazing that comprises the rest of the novel.

Going out, bafflement and idiocy

Vajraloka, May 2022

I've been enjoying being less busy than during the summer, now that I've cut back on all the volunteering. So what I've been doing is much more ordinary, but it's been fun doing some of it with UJ.

We both enjoy watching films at home, but this week we went to the cinema - UJ is pretty good at following the English but she does miss a few bits. She also came with me to the tiny local cafe/music venue for some stand-up live comedy, which was pretty good, and I took her to see one of my Buddhist friends and we had a walk with another to set up a support network so she isn't entirely reliant on me. She's been going swimming and has joined the gym, she volunteers for a local food bank where I think she meets a few other Ukrainians, and she has one other friend locally, but I think life must be a little unexciting for her most of the time.

I went to the same small venue with another friend to to see Tom Robinson - big star at the end of the 1970's but disappeared and emerged many years later as a DJ on BBC 6 Music. His voice and face both show the passing of the years but he is very entertaining and played the hits for us along with a few new songs. Most notable happening for this evening was when someone on the floor above our basement dropped a drink directly above me and a considerable amount found its way through the floorboards onto my head.

I have been given another new project by Mr MXF. I did ask him whether any of the multiple unfinished projects he has given me have actually contributed anything to the greater good, and he reassured me that despite not having finished anything, the work I had done was good enough to bring in work from customers, so that's nice. 

This job is about using a tool called Hugo to build a static website to display the document I'd previously successfully converted to markdown format. If you don't understand any of that, which is very likely, then you will be as baffled as I was when after succeeding (after a fashion) on my laptop I tried to do the same thing using a cloud environment called Gitlab. I managed to create a website, but try as I might I couldn't get it to display my content, not even using the incomprehensible documentation and all the powers of YouTube. We have spent more than an hour on a Zoom call today, which I recorded, and the next step is to review the recording to see if I understand more after the second (or third) time round.

Sister D claimed her second birthday outing, to Batsford Arboretum. The trees were stunning and so was the weather - wind, warm sunshine, pouring rain and almost everything in between. And then it was time to return to London for more house-sitting - yes, Lola II and Mr M are still globe-trotting - but in an uncharacteristically idiotic moment I had driven as far as Uxbridge before realising with a jolt that I hadn't brought the keys, nor the contact details for the local people who had them, and it was already 11 p.m. The only way it could have been worse was if I had followed my initial plan and forgotten the keys while coming by train - but that plan was defeated by strikes. UJ wasn't in the car to witness my incompetence as she has stayed at home in order to meet her JobCentre coach, but she may arrive for more touristic activity at the weekend, strikes permitting.