I am thankful that the weather seems to have improved a tad since yesterday as in a day or so I am having a specialist firm come and steam-clean the patio in my back garden and there is a certain amount of clearing up to be done. The day before I had cut the grassed area to the front of the hose but had felt tired all day and could not have faced any more clearing up work but today is another matter. The day before yesterday, I met my American friend in the park and we ‘did a turn’ but mainly sat on my favourite bench and discussed what events in the Arts world we wanted to go and see in the next few weeks. I am still dithering a bit over any holiday plans that I might have for later in the year or even to draw the sting of the winter by going to Spain next February but as is ever the case one needs to think about one’s finances. This month is a peculiar one because I have the car insurance, taxation and servicing to pay for and although I have done some forward planning for all of this, I will feel in a happier place once all of these expenses are actually behind me instead of in front of me. In a day or so, it will be the year long anniversary of Meg’s funeral and this will be another milestone. In some ways, the past year has absolutely flown by but on the other hand it seems an enormously long time since I had Meg by my side. But my American friend is good for me because she misses her mother terribly and so sometimes we have a little weep together to remember our joint grief. Naturally, candles get lit in any churches that we happen to visit such as the Cathedral church of St Philip with some magnificent stained glass windows which we visited last Friday. I found on Sky news a little something that made me smile. Donald Trump has been booed at a basketball match in New York as he became the first sitting US president to attend the NBA Finals. The catcalls came after frustrated ticket holders waited for hours in lines that stretched more than two blocks outside Madison Square Garden on Monday due to the intense security restrictions that came with the president’s appearance. I do not suppose for a moment that any catcalls would have registered with the US president such is his narcissism and vanity but, nonetheless, it is a sign that the tide if turning in American politics. I am training myself to have a slightly different breakfast routine these days. One of the first things I have just started to do is to have a couple of teaspoonfuls of high quality EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and if you do this first thing in the morning, it both lines the stomach but also its beneficial ingredients are quickly absorbed and you derive the maximum benefit from the oil. If I have got up late and I am a little pressed for time, then I have a small avocado with a little bit of Thousand Island dressing followed perhaps by a rice cake spread with cottage cheese. If on the other hand, I have got up earlier, I prepare a bowl with a couple of dessert spoonfuls of raw porridge oats, throw in a handful of bran and then add sone greek yogurt (or better still Kefir style yogurt which is becoming more available in the supermarkets these days) I have started to become a little more cautious about the yogurt that I buy – for example ‘Greek style’ mans not authentic yogurt. In the same vein, I am also avoiding anything that says ‘Law fat’ as this means that some beneficial fats have been replaced by harmful sugar or sugar substitutes. The supermarkets have a lot to answer for in their drive for profitability and I find that I have to shop carefully for healthy products and I need to keep a careful eye open for junk type food of which to my eye, there is a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later on in the morning, I donned some shorts (unusual for me!) and went down to attend my weekly Pilates class. Earlier in the morning, I had had the most frustrating time as I had received from a national motoring organisation (I will not say which!) a renewal quote for next year which was 27% higher than last year. The organisation’s website indicate that you could get into contact with them via email (but without supplying an email address) but also gave a text number as an alternative – in the event this turned out to be a service only for the hard of hearing! After my Pilates class and going round the houses to get the right telephone number I eventually got into contact with a human being (rather than an automated system) and indicated my displeasure at the subscription increase and that I intended to leave and take up the services of a rival. After I had removed one service that I think I will never need, I was offered a new subscription price which was only 52% of the renewal price that I had originally been quoted. I mention all of this because I think it is indicative of modern life where organisations are desperate you you to sign and to avail yourself of special offers, but it is difficult to find a human to whom to complain. So at the end of the day I have got the subscription which I need at a reasonable price but it has taken quite a lot of hassle to get to this point and I wonder how many actually give up and end up either paying the hugely increased price or leaving altogether. Tonight, I can again look forward to a Simon Scharma programme on a History of Britain’ and this one promises to focus on the end of empire which might be interesting in its own right. It was an American Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Dean Acheson who opined that ‘Britain had lost an Empire but not found a role’ and these words are as true today as when they were first uttered in 1962.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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