Nicely broken

After my run yesterday, there is mixed news. Yes, I’m quite sore, as my joints and muscles get back into being pushed a bit more than the weights and static bike in the gym have offered, but it’s a good sore.

I’m nicely broken.

And – in even more positive news – my crappy ankle is no sorer than any other bit of me.

Given that it has previously tended to flare up at the first sign of any impact work at all, this is a good thing. I’ll give it a few days off (the impact stuff, at least) and then we’ll give it another go and see what progress can be made. Baby steps (that’s not an idea for an exercise routine.)

In the meantime, there’s a piano lesson (not me), a photography extramural (not me), some dodgeball training (not me) and watching Sheffield United away at Reading during a bout of loadshedding (me), to get through.

A few things

Firstly, go and play Puzzgrid. It’s like the wall on Only Connect, but online.

And if you want a 4-star difficulty challenge to begin with, try this one that I made earlier. I’m planning on making a few more (mainly they’re stored in my head at the moment, and quite honestly, I need the space.)

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Next up, remember this quote?

Well, my rule of thumb is going to be a bit broken if this happens

Wait… Watt*?!?
But that would mean 32 hours… and there are only 24…

Wow. Who would have thought that the straw that finally broke the network’s back was simply running out of enough hours to shed in a day?

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Then: Was Eyjafjallajökull the final volcano?

Year 9 iGCSE Geography dictates that one must do a class presentation on a volcanic event. And additionally, that one must build a model of said volcano to demonstrate your knowledge thereof.
I helped transport a model of Eyjafjallajökull (remember him?) into the school today, and was asked by the principal, who we saw along the way, if this was the final volcano project for our family.

I hadn’t really thought about it. But just maybe it was.

Volcano models are a rite of passage throughout your school years. You can learn more, and more, and more about them, depending on how far you want to go. You can do loads of geography, sociology, history, English, art and science about them. And yes, you can build models, from the super simple, through the vinegar and bicarb stage, and onto geographically and morphologically accurate representations, including glaciers, treelines, and – somewhat inexplicably in this case – a café.

And we’ve done them all. Twice over.

In total, our kids have over 24 years at that school.
And yes, this might well have been our family’s final volcano project. That’s actually rather sad.

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Also: Qatar Airways unilaterally cancelled several of our flights this morning without any explanation. And then emailed me and asked me to “Acknowledge the changes” or “Request a refund”. I think I’m going to have to click both buttons there, aren’t I? I don’t think it’s quite enough for me to choose between the two, given how much COLD HARD CASH has gone into buying the tickets, and the CONTINUING NEED to be in certain places at certain times – with accommodation and car hire and connecting flights already booked. Because of many reasons (but mainly because of emigrating nearly 20 years ago), I have done a lot of international flying. This is the first time that I have used Qatar Airways. And this really is the first problem I’ve ever had.

Sadly, we’re kind of tied in with them now, so we need to rearrange another lot of flights with them, and hope that these ones actually exist when we try to fly on them.

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And finally – in the style of Trevor MacDonald – this:

I mean, if even he is saying it, then it must be true, right?
Full marks for whoever cropped this meme (it wasn’t me) so that we were spared a sight of the offensive (and sinful) footwear.

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* so many apologies for this

Womble Grotto

Having done a lot of research (I Googled once), I have discovered that the below image would have been right about the time that I was a kid. A Womble-loving kid. And yet I have no recollection of ever visiting the Womble Grotto on The Moor in Sheffield.

Why on earth not?

I’m guessing that the J Sainsbury sign is obscuring the actual Womble you would get to meet. The thought of going along to a Womble Grotto and then meeting John Sainsbury – who by that time would have been dead for almost 50 years – doesn’t really seem all that appealing.

I need to chat to my Dad and find out why I was never taken to the local Womble Grotto. To me, this seems like a massive dereliction of parenting duties.

Babysit

I’m babysitting again.

This time somewhat digitally, with the Boy Wonder out and about all over Kenilworth, planning his latest escapade, and Little Miss 6000 visiting the local shopping mall with a friend. I’m just hanging about the local coffee shops at that mall, making sure that everything is ok, and if it isn’t, that I’m right on scene and ready to go should I be needed. It’s not that I don’t trust her: it’s everyone else that I have an issue with.

Technology being what it is, I can keep an eye on both of them via the power of mobile GPS, and so one eye is on that while the other is crafting a high quality blog post.

My Dad has gone wandering in Kirstenbosch. Unless you have a specific plan and a specific time limit – which he doesn’t – just wandering in Kirstenbosch is often the best way to do Kirstenbosch. I’m not keeping an eye on him, though. He’s old enough to look after himself.

And so everyone is everywhere and I’m just sitting here drinking a massive mug of coffee. I’m not sure this is what parenthood was meant to be like, but as long as everyone is ok, it seems easy enough to manage.

In fact, the only thing that’s not working out is my music. I left my headphones at home (because everything is all mixed up at the moment), and although I’ve been and got a cheap set from the dodgy Chinese shop just over there [points], now Spotify is refusing to open. Maybe in protest at the quality of the equipment. Justifiably so, then.

Otherwise though, it’s all good. I think that all I need now is a muffin.