The View from Number One-Four-Two

I just went to my local Tesco to buy some energy saving light-bulbs but guess what they don't sell them! And there was me thinking that Tesco was the "Green" supermarket....

....oh but hang on Energy saving light bulbs were last years big environmental thing - this years is carrier bags of course silly me!!

Last night we joined in the Earth hour campaign and switched all our lights off between 8pm and 9pm. Earth hour started in Sydney last year but this years event was global. The idea was to switch off your lights for an hour to highlight the need for action on global warming and the contribution that electricity generation makes.

So we switched all the lights off and lit candles around the house. We even had to put the shopping away by the light of three candles in the kitchen. It was rather nice and we all agreed that we should light the house by candles more often!

I got a nice letter from the Metropolitan Police today informing me that I am to be prosecuted for speeding. This was after I set off a speed camera at five to four on my way to work the other morning. Apparently I was doing 46 mph in a 30 limit - oops!

All together now....

Three points on my licence but I'm still rolling along...

Damn you Mr Gatzo

Sarah's nan sent over some money to buy Easter eggs with - I got a little creme egg one from Woolies. When I opened it up there were 2 (yes folks count 'em) MINI creme eggs inside the main egg.

Oh god I've been so confused

On Friday I thought it was Saturday because I was off work and we went to Asda but then we had roast lamb for dinner and it felt like Sunday but that only lasted till EastEnders came on then it was Friday again!!

Then on Saturday Sarah's mum and Nan came over which made it feel like Sunday but I went to the library so it couldn't have been.

And then there was the snow which was very confusing - I guess we are used to Easter being later and therefore warmer.

I blame the full moon

I've finally given in to the hype and joined facebook!!

I forgot to do this when it happened but it was with sadness that I learned of the death from cancer of guitarist Jeff Healey.

I first heard Jeff Healey when a friend played his album to me one night - it was on vinyl so that shows how long ago it was. I subsequently bought it on CD and to be honest it didn't sound as good.

Jeff was blind from the age of one due to cancer - a disease he spent his whole life fighting and when he came to play the guitar he had never seen anyone play so he played it in what seemed to be a logical way with it sitting on his lap.

It worked though and he played some mean blues. I saw him years ago at the Town and Country club in London. Sadly missed

That bloody Neil Young bloke has just announced his only UK summer date

It's at the Hop Farm in Paddock Wood a few miles from the site of our festival

And it's on July 6th - the day after our festival

Wonder if he wants to do a warm up gig?

So if there are any Neil fans out there want to spend an enjoyable Saturday listening to some good music before going on to see Neil then there are still some tickets left! (That's assuming you can still afford it after buying your NY ticket which if his Hammersmith shows are anything to go by will be astronomical!!

This years line up btw

Workingman's Deed
Nigel Mazlyn Jones
Laredo
Tyrannosaurus Alan
Nick Weaver

and entertainment from DJ's The Strange Remain and dancing from Sian Edwards-Davies.

Who knows those Squeeze boys might even put in an appearance again!

Driving to work at about 3:40 yesterday morning I forgot about the speed camera in the Limehouse tunnel and there was a flash in my rear view mirror - grrr!

I've had an emotional couple of days working on Age Concern's Grandparent of the year awards.

On Wednesday we had to go to a London hotel and film the Grandchildren talking about why they had nominated their Grandparent and what was so special about them. There were some tear jerking moments both for the children as they told their stories and for me listening to and recording them.

Then today there was the awards ceremony at the Houses of Parliament presented by Fiona Phillips (who had a few sniffles along the way) and even though I'd recorded the videos and edited them playing them back in that room today set me off all over again.

And of course it sets you off thinking about your Grandparents - my Gran is 98 in May and still going strong - albeit a little slower than before. My Nan died aged 92 without seeing any of my children (she died a week after my eldest was born and never got to see even a picture of her).

And of course my mum who would have loved to have been a Grandmother but she died just before I knew I was going to be a Dad - I'm sure she would have been a contender for this award had she lived.

If so I'll just sit here quietly waiting for number 3.....

Last night I fell down the stairs from the attic room smacking the 3 little toes on my right foot on the spindles of the banister - ouch!

Then just as we were getting into bed I heard a bang right outside the window, followed by a clatter and a drunken cheer. I didn't bother looking because I just thought that some drunks had knocked next doors For Sale sign down (again).

However when I looked out at 5:30 this morning and saw the sign still standing I looked round to see what else it could have been and spotted the wing mirror missing from my car.

Luckily (if that's the right word) they only broke the mirror ( I had a spare) and housing (which fitted back after a fashion) and left the mechanism and electrics intact - but still about £100 worth of damage

We've had some French Students staying with us over the last few days.

Last night - just as I was going off to collect them we had a phonecall to say one of them was ill and they were trying to sort out getting her to a doctor - they would keep us informed.

An hour and a half later we found out that she had been to the Doctor - the agent didn't know what was wrong but knew that they had gone with a teacher to a late night pharmacy and would be coming back to us in a taxi.

About quarter to ten the doorbell rang and the two girls were there - no sign of a teacher. So we knew they were ill but not what was wrong with them. There was no explanation about the medicine she had been given nor what the problem had been. If she had been taken ill again (she arrived holding one of those trays they have in hospitals for people to be sick into) we would have known what to say to a Doctor.

Sarah googled the medicine so we could get an idea of what was wrong.

Hope our daughter gets better treatment on her school trip to Belgium!

There was a woman on the train this morning who tapped the man next to me and asked him to turn down his mp3 player because it was annoying her.

This is what I wish I had said to her!!

"Excuse me - while I understand you asking him to turn down his music can I just say that I haven't really enjoyed sitting here watching you put on your make up. You really should consider how your actions effect those around you before you criticize others"

If only I'd had the guts!!

A few weeks ago I set up an RSS feed on my igoogle - this tells me when the podcasts become available. When they are all there I download the MP3's, edit the tags so they play in the right order and then transfer them via USB to my MP3 player.

That way I never miss an episode of the Archers!

Anaerobic digester anyone?