Well, here we are on day 6 of our summer holiday… and I’m shattered! It’s the heat. Constant. Never ending. Draining.
A lot of time has been spent in the pool, but we’ve also been to the beach… which was quite nice, even though I’m not a beachy person. We’ve also visited a couple of local [...]

I’m working up in Manchester at the moment. The hotel I picked is a mile away from the airport. Not so close that the noise will cause me any bother, I thought.
What I didn’t realise is that, yes, it’s a mile away, but it’s a mile directly down the flight path! Well, actually, I don’t [...]

Amelia had a day out in London last week, having accompanied her best friend on one of her routine visits to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. From there, they went to visit Buckingham Palace -which is once again open to tourists.  She returned home with her Buckingham Palace carrier bag, full of pamphlets and books, [...]

I’ve taken a few days off work this week and, as the sun was shining brightly in the sky yesterday, we decided to spend a small fortune at Chessington - World of Adventure - it’s in a field, just outside Esher.
Having now experienced its delights, I [...]

I was working in Salisbury yesterday and on the way back, found myself driving past a big pile of stones.
Now, I’ve never visited the henge before, so thought I’d take the opportunity to stop and imbibe some of its mystical power.
The place was crowded with lots of tourists: mainly Japanese, German and American, it [...]

I took the kids into town on Saturday, to do a bit of shopping.
Because I’m a tight-arse who doesn’t like paying to park my car, I parked it - as I often do - in a side road behind the Police station. It’s only a 10-minute walk from there - even at Harry’s dawdling pace.
Once [...]

Further to my post a few days back:
A chap at work managed to rejuvinate my battery. I should probably still get a new one, but this one will do, in order for me to get the bike running and up to the MOT station.
I fitted it yesterday and started the bike. All well and good.
Checked [...]

I went to the pictures last night. To see a film.
It was this: most enjoyable.
I went on my own, because Mrs M has no funny bone and doesn’t share my sense of humour. It’s only the third time I can recall going to movies by myself:
1.  2001: A Space Odyssey - none of my mates [...]

When I arrived at the office this morning - in Northampton - I found my access card wasn’t authorised to let me in. A quick phone call to the security people told me that I’d have a bit of a wait before it could be sorted, so I went off in search of some tea [...]

Along with her best friend, my six-year old daughter went along to the local scout hut tonight, to see what being a Girl Guide was all about. By all accounts, she had fun.
But you cannot join the Girl Guides until you are fourteen years of age.
The pre-Guide groups are the Brownies. But you cannot join [...]

Once again the snow is coming down and once again the country is grinding to a halt.
I’ve been working from home this last week or so, but decided to go into the office this morning as I’m starting to go a bit stir crazy being shut up indoors all the time.
The roads were a little [...]

Took the day off work yesterday and we all went down to that London for the day, to visit the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. We took Amelia’s best friend with us, and my dad.
And it was really good.
And it was really expensive.
And it was very German. For some reason.
Unfortunately, the heavy snows that [...]

Pah! Ne’er a sprout to be seen!
Our Xmas do, last night, was held in a large marquee. And if the marquee had had rafters, it would have been packed to them. I’m told there were about 700 people there, all in all.
They squeezed a dozen people onto each round table: tables that would have comfortably [...]

I’m in Reading. For the second night this week.
The first was on Tuesday night, when I was in to do some out-of-hours work… that didn’t go particularly well.
Also, the motel I stayed at was a bit of a dive: cold room, soft bed, tiny bath. On the plus side, the pub restaurant next door was [...]

Along with my sister, her boyfriend and daughter, I took the kids to the farm today. Or rather, I should say, A farm, because it’s not the only one around here, I’m sure.
The kids all had a great time, but were probably more interested in the playground than actually seeing the animals.  But, despite [...]

Having the bladder of a small boy can be quite awkward sometimes.
It’s rare that the current Mrs Masher and I get to go to the pictures nowadays, but when we do I always make sure I have an aisle seat, as a trip to the loo is pretty much an inevitability.
But I always have the [...]

I had one of those “D’oh!” moments yesterday when I filled up with petrol at the garage.
Yep: petrol.
As you’ve probably already realised, like most maritime vessels, my car takes diesel.
Fortunately, I didn’t completely fill the tank and had only put in 11 litres before I realised my mistake. But it was still 11 litres of [...]

We went to the pictures (movies) last night, Mrs Masher and I. We went to see a film I’ve long been eager to see, but the logistics of procuring a babysitter had meant a wait of a couple of weeks.
That wait, along with all the good reviews I’d read about the film, meant that I [...]

We are finally all Wii’d up.
The missus bought one yesterday. The kids love it. So does she.
Me, I think it’s OK.
Actually, I think it’s a wonderful piece of kit - from an engineering point of view. But as for playing the games… (and some of them were quite fun, admittedly) well, that does little for [...]

I held the knife loosely in my hand and weighed it up. It was just an ordinary kitchen knife: not very big. It would take a long time - and quite a bit of effort - I would think, to cut up a human body with this.  And yet, as the tiny, tell-tale bloodspots  on [...]

When I was younger, I went ice skating on a semi-regular basis. I wasn’t much cop at it, but I could get up some speed and had a confidence on the ice.
I’ve tried to persuade the current Mrs Masher, several times over the years, that we should go. “It’ll be fun!” But she has always [...]

I had lunch today in an American Diner. In Greenford.
Shipped in from the US some years ago, it gave a pretty authentic feel as to what one of these diners would have been like in the fifties.
The decor inside was all pretty art deco looking and The Everly Brothers played quietly in the background.
Sitting at [...]

“I know you” said the lady behind the till.
“Yes, I was in here last week” I said.
“No. I mean I recognised you. You come in here every Friday morning for your breakfast and it’s been bugging me for weeks because I couldn’t think where I know you from.”
“Oh, okay” I said, somewhat mystified.
“I was telling [...]

Years ago (Pre Mrs Masher (PMM)), I went to Russia.
I was on holiday with The Girlfriend At That Time (TGATT), in Moscow.
Our hotel wasn’t far from the Bolshoi Theatre and TGATT noticed that the Bolshoi Ballet Company were putting on a show of Chekov’s The Seagull.
“Oh, let’s go,” she said, “I’ve always wanted to go [...]

I went to Leicester Square last night with a couple of mates to see La Clique at The Hippodrome.
It was this: brilliant!
Jugglers; singers; magic; trapeze; acrobatics; contortionists, all done with a good dose of comedy. I loved every minute of it.
Having paid a bit extra for the “Posh Seats”, as it said on the ticket, [...]

Right, that’s the last of the pressies wrapped.
I now have three very large sacks of Christmas gifts to load into the car to take with me tomorrow. We are going away for a few days over Christmas… nowhere exotic, just up to Bernard Mathews country, where I’m sure it’ll be bootiful. We’ve hired a cottage [...]

I took my bike out for a spin yesterday afternoon.
It certainly wasn’t my prefered riding weather and to be honest, I only took her out because she needed a run, having sat in the garage for several weeks now.
As it was, the battery was nearly flat and I had to jump her from the car [...]

… is today.
I must say that I have been somewhat disappointed with the number of people I have seen wearing a poppy this week - and most specially today. If I had to guess at a figure, I’d say only 1 or 2 percent.  That said, there also seems to have been a lack of [...]