Back again!

Well, here I am, back from darkest Norfolk, where the 21st Century only fitfully applies. It can be very annoying to know that your iPhone has more computing power than the lunar module, but that the signal pops up only occasionally and for long enough to taunt you with an email message, but not long enough for you download anything other than the header. Fancy stuff to one side, even the ability to make a phone call or send a text would be welcome. I find it very annoying to think that had I gone abroad, I should get a better service with 'roaming' than I do at home. The phone would grab the strongest signal from any one of a number of carriers and that would be that. In the UK you just get your own carrier and have to sit there downcast while everyone but yourself has a signal and is chatting or texting away, just because Vodafone, O2 or Orange/T-Mobile won't acknowledge the others' existence.

Despite the cold weather, getting to darkest Norfolk was relatively easy. In fact, the roads were so clear we got there in daylight despite setting off later than planned. This is good, because here in third world London, Friday was a nightmare on the trains. On Thursday, everything worked splendidly despite the snow. There were no new falls overnight, but the local trains just gave up and died. The 10 minute journey from Ilford to Romford took close to an hour simply because at 10.20am I was boarding the 7.38am train. It's not as if trains weren't coming up the line, they were, just not local ones. So any arguments about frozen points (which, to be fair, no-one tried) would have fallen of deaf ears. No, East Anglia Rail just couldn't be arsed on Friday. And they didn't even bother with excuses, merely relentless and insincere apologies about the delays.

Beyond that, I had a splendid weekend of over indulgence, though once again, the amount of booze and food consumed by the seven of us reached a new low. We are getting old, clearly. The days of the feeding frenzy are well over.

Interestingly enough, we have proof that all Government assurances that inflation never peaked over 4-5% in the last year are lies. It so happened that we bought the same amount of provisions as last year and from the same place. We have both receipts to prove it. This year was 15% more expensive for the same shopping bag.

Right. Time for a cup of char, I think.

Back again!

Well, here I am, back from darkest Norfolk, where the 21st Century only fitfully applies. It can be very annoying to know that your iPhone has more computing power than the lunar module, but that the signal pops up only occasionally and for long enough to taunt you with an email message, but not long enough for you download anything other than the header. Fancy stuff to one side, even the ability to make a phone call or send a text would be welcome. I find it very annoying to think that had I gone abroad, I should get a better service with 'roaming' than I do at home. The phone would grab the strongest signal from any one of a number of carriers and that would be that. In the UK you just get your own carrier and have to sit there downcast while everyone but yourself has a signal and is chatting or texting away, just because Vodafone, O2 or Orange/T-Mobile won't acknowledge the others' existence.

Despite the cold weather, getting to darkest Norfolk was relatively easy. In fact, the roads were so clear we got there in daylight despite setting off later than planned. This is good, because here in third world London, Friday was a nightmare on the trains. On Thursday, everything worked splendidly despite the snow. There were no new falls overnight, but the local trains just gave up and died. The 10 minute journey from Ilford to Romford took close to an hour simply because at 10.20am I was boarding the 7.38am train. It's not as if trains weren't coming up the line, they were, just not local ones. So any arguments about frozen points (which, to be fair, no-one tried) would have fallen of deaf ears. No, East Anglia Rail just couldn't be arsed on Friday. And they didn't even bother with excuses, merely relentless and insincere apologies about the delays.

Beyond that, I had a splendid weekend of over indulgence, though once again, the amount of booze and food consumed by the seven of us reached a new low. We are getting old, clearly. The days of the feeding frenzy are well over.

Interestingly enough, we have proof that all Government assurances that inflation never peaked over 4-5% in the last year are lies. It so happened that we bought the same amount of provisions as last year and from the same place. We have both receipts to prove it. This year was 15% more expensive for the same shopping bag.

Right. Time for a cup of char, I think.