Summertime shorts blues

I was out On Monday when I recalled something that happened around nine years ago one morning on a day rather like today.

We have a relative large garden being on a corner plot so you have front, corner and rear which interestingly enough actually has a different post code than the reminder of the house as we bought that seperately and we have more mowed portions and other bits where various plants and flowers are planted.

Being near woodland we have a good number of birds about and birds do spread seeds about about and that has resulted on occasions in having things like wild poppies growing.

Well for a number of years we had a few growing near the front door, just a few inches from the door handle and lock on the right and towards where the door meets the brickwork on the left so while they were out you'd try to avoid catching them as these poppies were quite big with tissue paper consitency petals.

One day I was going out and I had a pair of olive five inch inside leg short trousers on I'd bought probably from British Home Stores as they did have more old school hiking shorts in and I noticed the poppy was sticking out a fair bit so I went to turn sharp right to avoid it as I appeared stuck to something.

It transpired I'd missed aim and got the back of my shorts caught on the brickwork which had torn the back in a way that even if you did sow them up, it would show as part of material was missing.

"Damn" thought I as I had to go back into the house to change to something more ahem decent.

"Why does trying to save the poppy cost me my shorts" ?

Ever since then I have been very careful at this time of year not to risk damaging my short trousers while getting out via the front door.

Why is topping up a phone a pain?

Modern life, who'd have it?

That was very much my thoughts on Monday when I did the monthly still activated check which basically involves ringing the home landline number using my mobile phones to ensure that at least one call was made from it every month and phoning Vodaphone's balence line to check on the account credit as with some changes from last year I have been out a bit less for several days at a stretch than in the past so tend to keep the credit to around £20-25 per month than let it build up to about £60.

Having checked that and when the next £10 bundle is due I went to top it up.

In the past it was simple enough, you took a card "married" to your phone account and paid for it at a PayPoint such as your Post Office or corner store but that has been discontinued so you either do it via an App which won't work as unlike me my phone isn't Smart or online.

I go and log into Vodaphone's top up page and select Paypal.

You've probably got one of them and a Google account too.

You enter you phone number, the one your phones account is linked to and go to use the pull down menu for the amount  and select AND nothing happens.

No you are being taken to PayPal message.

Tried it several times, same result.

I ended up using my Credit Card and that DID work.

What a faff to just add some money to your phones account!

Pictures and stuff

There's a few things to talk about this week one is about pictures on this blog which can come from different sources such as official publications which if known are credited, anything I've personally taken and a big bag of things which have been through the likes of Tumblr and Pinterest.

Trouble with the latter is often they were not credited upon first uploading and can go through various editing sequencies such as cropping or even superimposition of detail in photoshop so you may not tell if it is some known picture or just yet another picture of the same event by a.n.other.

While I prefer crediting sources, to ignore something just because it lacks one even if it's done the rounds as it were when it fits the tone of the main written entry isn't something I am inclined to go with.

If somewhere down the line it is actually one of yours, if you send a comment to that effect then that certainly will be added as I'm not claiming everything published on here is mine.

That's not why they're published here.

Another thing is honesty in grading the condition of used books and records which continues to be an irritant.

For instance Monday a stereo copy of Beatles for Sale their fourth album turns up graded as Excellent when the vinyl has lost its shine and looks a bit worn, I can see especially on the first side five lined scuffs and a clear mark that are audible as clicks throughout the quieter moments

Although this is a 1976 issue, the inner is a 1982 one clearly dated and not the original.

This copy is VG (Very good) visually at best and doesn't get a better grading as a "Play Grade" going more by how it plays either.

It's enough to say I wouldn't of bought this has I know its real condition.

Coronation Events

This is almost a follow on from Monday's main blog entry looking at Sunday, the day of Coronation Concert and events such as street parties.

Lionel Richie got everybody going and much dancing in the Royal Box with Easy, a song originally record with The Commodores bfore moving on to a spirited rendition of All Night Long.

Katy Perry sang Roar much to the approval of Princess Charlotte.

Paloma Faith

Take That, the Manchester area band from the early 90's gave us great versions of Never Forget and Shine concluding the show.

I decided to attend a coronation cake and tea celebration event at the local Anglican Church although sausage rolls and pork pie were on offer too with people in this part of the district,talking with people.

As I said on certain site, I was going to attend as little me dress shirt, tie and grey school shorts and I did given this area is so used now to me being in little else unless it's really really cold.

I had homemade Banana Cake which was most scrumptious in this very popular event although only a short walk away in our park, the one our parents fought to keep in the estate plan at a point the developers wanted to stick more houses on it, events for children featuring a Magician were taking place with face painting, food and a disco.

Community matters a lot here, it's very much in our DNA so people organized things for themselves and we in turn supported it.

It was fantastic time.

Disability and discipline

There is one subject that I'd like to talk about on this blog which I do have views on.

 

While I feel good arguments can be made for punishing people for things they could do but didn't especially if they had severe consequences for others, I do feel it is wrong to punish somebody for something that they had little or no control over such as stammering, being unable to write neatly, forgetting things because of memory problems and so on.

This was something I did see occasionally in school but quite often in the workplace after I had left education where it was just presumed everybody there had no disabilities and from that there were no excuses period for not being able to do or struggling with a task.

What as individual you needed was either support in performing the  task or or some extra tuition to master a task on a one to one basis which was something I had to fight tooth and nail for even at the risk of alienating some colleagues who though this help for me was somehow a threat or  unfairness to them.

Not  work reviews that seemed to be every other week sapping your confidence or any chastisement that if we'd of just refused to do right would of been justified and disability shouldn't prevent you for getting it.