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2 November 2002 A.D. My Ref: GENL0212

Dear Folk,

Sun 13th Octob. At Hellesdon. Dampish day. Got up about 08H15 and went and fetched a Sun Express. Came home and trimmed my beard and then had a nice hot bath. Finished the Skeleton Crossword in the bath. Put some things in the washing-machine. Had left-overs for lunch. Didn't have a sesta, although I felt quite tired. Started to do my Portuguese homework, and the wretched computer switched itself off again without warning.

Felt so fed-up that I telephoned Guru Christopher and he very kindly talked me through altering the anti-virus software settings so I could at last send Emails. He also told me what to do when the computer switches off, and I was able to restart within a few seconds. Hope that will always do the trick. Anyway, I was cheered-up no end and very grateful to Guru C.

Finished the homework and packed, so now I am ready for going to that place near Kingston-upon-Hull tomorrow. Laterer spoke to Maggie, who has been having a go driving young Richard's new car, which is a sporty two-seater. Then spoke to Nigel and we confirmed the arrangements for tomorrow. Finished GENL0211, although I only published GENL0210 yesterday. It will have to wait until my return from the Hull area.

Mon 14th Octob. Damp again. Got up at 05H00 and made some sandwiches from tinned turkey. Finished packing. At 06H45 I set off to Huns'ton and arruv there about eight a.m. Nigel was pretty well ready and we druv off in my Suzuki Wagon-R towards Yorkshire. Nigel did the driving. We druv via King's Lynn to Sleaford, where we parked for a while and had a look around the Charity Shops. Didn't buy anything. Then druv to Northwards to Lincoln. Here we stopped for a while and had a look in some more shops near the Cathedral. Went into a second-hand shop and found some dots. Whom should we see in that shop, but Roger Brook, a fellow organ-grinder from Glasgow? It seems that he was still staying in Lincoln for a few days, after a meeting of the Musical Box Society that took place there about ten days ago.

Then we druv off to Selby, and then went on to Hemingbrough, which seems to be pronounced "Hemming-bruff". The church is called Hemingbrough Minster, and is dedicated to St Mary. Nigel found the key to the church at the Post Office, and we went in. Very gloomy, but Nigel had a torch. The famous Misericord was carved in wood about A.D. 1200 and is all on its own, there being no others in the church. The carved part is just a couple of coiled branches, with no representation of animal or human. Which is probably why it alone escaped the ravages of the puritans. Nigel did drawings of the carving, and took a couple of photographs. While all this was going on I had a look around the inside of the church, which was quite interesting.

Then we returned to Selby and finally druv back to Norfolk, arriving at Huns'ton about seven p.m., after a very interesting day out. I then druv home to Hellesdon. Spoke to Maggie, who was pleased to hear that I was home.

Tues 15th Octob. Quite wet. The latest Organ Grinders' News arruv in the post. It has run my article (with photograph) about the 1940s week-end on the Sheringham railway. Went swimming and then drew my pension. The government has announced that in the Spring, postal rates will increase; so now I buy a number of first- and second-class stamps when I collect my pension every week. As long as the stamps are printed as 1st or 2nd, rather than being printed with an actual monetary amount, I shall be able to go on using them after the increase.

Did very little all day, but some repairs to dots. Spoke to Maggie on the telephone. A nice Email from my niece Jane in Brasil to say that her sister Mary is in Denmark is to undergo an operation on a mole on her arm that could be nasty. It is also Mary's birthday, so I sent an Email to wish her well. Mary is herself a surgeon, but a veterinary one.

Wed 16th Octob. Dampish, but not too wet. Went swimming and then came home and caught a 'bus into Norwich. Went to the St Andrew's Cloisters and found some dots. Came home on the 'bus, and after lunch I druv to Teresa's and we had a good lesson. Came home and fell asleep in a chair. Laterer spoke to Mamma and Nigel and also to Maggie.

Repaired the dots I bought this morning. One item seems to be a rarity. A piece called "Utah", described as a Mormon Vocal Fox-Trot. It was originally published in the U.S.A., but my copy was published in London in 1922, the original British price being two shillings. I find it difficult to understand why it should have ever been published over here, since it has no relevance to life in Britain at all, the words being about a Mormon elder with six wives who is seeking a seventh; and the tune isn't very catchy. I really cannot imagine anyone in Britain wanting to spend 2/- on it in 1922. But then, I don't suppose I can put myself into the mind of a person living eighty years ago. As L.P.Hartley said; the past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. I expect you think that I made all this up, but I can assure you it is all quite true, and my copy of "Utah" really exists.

The above reminds me of a copy I found a few months ago of the jolly 1920s tune called "Chicago". My copy was published in England purely as a piano-piece with no words to it; I am sure that in the 1920s, the words of the song (about various streets in Chicago) would have meant absolutely nothing to the average Britisher of the day, which must be why the words were not printed in Britain. Even now, although the words have since been published in Britain, I don't think the words mean much to us.

Thurs 17th Octob. Sunny with some cloud. Went swimming and then came home and had a quiet day. Had a long sesta in the afternoon. Maggie rang in the evening. She had been to the evening Collectors' Fair at Orpington and found lots of dots for me.

Fri 18th Octob. Sunny with cloud again. A nice card in the post from Val Jonker, who recently had a fall and broke several bones; but she is on the mend now, although very slowly. Went swimming and saw quite a few folk who had been on the recent trip to Paris. Took our photographs to show them. Came home and had an early lunch. After that I had a sesta.

Had a quiet evening and spoke to Maggie and the folk at Huns'ton. Also spoke to Aunt Joan to thank her for her letter (please see GENL0211 Page Eight). Joan wonders about why I repair old pairs of scissors. The answer is, that apart from the satisfaction I get from making them work again, I also believe that no household can have too many pairs of scissors. I always seem to need scissors, and so I have several in every room in the house. There is even a pair of hairdresser's scissors in the bathroom, although I seem to keep my pairs of nail- scissors in the living-room and in the kitchen.

Sat 19th Octob. Dull but dry. Got ready to go to Huns'ton and druv off mid-morning. Called at the Safeway supermercado on the outskirts of Fakenham and bought a hot spit-roasted chicken. Mamma and I had chicken for lunch when I got to Huns'ton, but Nigel had something different. In the afternoon Mamma and I went into Huns'ton Town and called at the Tins and Things warehouse (also called by us "Alice's Nephew's") and bought some cheap tinned things. Then Mamma suggested that we visit [subjunctive mood] the new Tesco supermercado, which has been recently opened on the site of the former Hunstanton Gasworks, so we did. It seems to be very good, and certainly the not very good Budgen's store, formerly the only supermercado in Huns'ton, is feeling the pinch. Returned to Mamma's house and had a quiet evening. Went down to Lodge Farm to lodge with Cousin David and his two dogs and his three cats. It was a very cold night, but luckily I had a hottle wottle bottle and I was quite comfortable.

Sun 20th Octob. Mamma's and Nigel's birthday. Also my nephew Claus's birthday. Quite damp. The two local birthday folk seemed to like their presents and cards. During the morning we had visits from Pru Sykes, and then from Cousins Lowenna and Keith and other members of their family, and also from Martin and Sheila Jeffreys. It was very nice to see them all. At 12H45 we druv down to the Club in Huns'ton, and had a very nice lunch. There were eight in our party: Mamma and Nigel, Uncle Graham and Chutchie, Jeanne Owens and her daughter Debbie, Cousin David and myself.

Everybody was invit down to Mamma's house for a cup of tea, and then when everybody went, Nigel accompanied Graham and Chutchie to Pentney, as on Tuesday Nigel and Graham are going to Portugal for a week. In the evening there was a call from Pentney; Nigel had left his passport at Huns'ton. Anyway, after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing we found the passport; and Cousin David, who was going to Pentney on Monday morning, said he would take it to Nigel. Very tired and went to bed very early (at Mamma's).

Mon 21st Octob. Trafalgar Day. Wettish. Cousin David came and fetched Nigel's passport. After lunch I said goodbye to Mamma and druv to Hellesdon. Drew my pension and bought some stamps. When I got home my telephone was dead. Eventually I was able to contact BT using the telephone of Grace next door, and I reported the fault. It seems that they cannot fix the problem until next week!!! So for the moment I cannot make or receive telephone-calls, nor can I send or receive Emails. But when I do get my line back, I shall insist on some sort of compensation.

However BT are arranging that every time anyone rings my number, a recorded message will be played, saying that my line is out-of-order. Grace very kindy let me speak to Mamma and Maggie to let them know.

Watched a television programme about Rio de Janeiro, which brought back happy memories of my childhood. Of course the City itself is almost unrecogniseable to me, although the beaches looked very much the same. But I didn't see any caranguejos++ on Copacabana beach. I remember being terrified of them as a small child. They lived in holes in the dry sand, and never seemed to go anywhere near the sea. They would scuttle at speed from one hole to another. They were pale yellow in colour; and translucent, almost transparent. I don't think they had hard shells; I dare say their speed would save them from predators, so they have evolved like this. I wonder if there are still such caranguejos++ there these days? I do hope not.

Tues 22nd Octob. Dampish. Telephone still out-of-order. Went swimming and then came home and changed the sheets and turned the colchão on my bed. Fell asleep in front of the television in the afternoon. Found a piece of sheet-music which had been put by mistake among some bound volumes. It needed repairing, so I did it. Published in 1926, it was a song "inspired" as they used to say, by a silent film. I think I have told you that songwriters used to try and cash-in on silent films in those days; such songs were very slightly relevant to the films they were inspired by, and they were played (by a piano or organ or an orchestra) in the cinemas during the screening of the films. Copies of the sheet-music were on sale in the foyers of the cinemas, so that if any members of the audience were interested enough, they could buy copies. Although my particular copy of this song was (according to a rubber-stamp impression on the front) sold by a music-seller in Colchester.

The song is called "The Wedding Song" or "Ring out, Sweet Hawaiian Bells", and the front cover says that it was inspired by a CECIL B. de MILLE motion picture called "The Wedding Song". It doesn't mention the firm producing the film, but almost certainly it was a Paramount picture. The stars of the film were Leatrice (sic) Joy and Robert Ames. Leatrice really was the girl's name, but one doesn't hear anything about her in laterer years.

According to some reference-books in my own personal library, Robert Ames the other star went on to make other films, and finally one for Pathé Bros called "Rebound" in 1931. Apparently the making of "Rebound" was plagued with misfortunes which didn't end after the film was completed. Robert Williams, one of the co-stars, died just after that film was made (in his 30s), and three months after that Robert Ames himself died in his 40s.

Wed 23rd Octob. Dry. Went swimming and after coming home I tried the telephone, which seems to have been fixed. This has been done so quickly that I am not entitled to any compensation. I rang Mamma and Maggie to tell them the good news. Then I went into Norwich on the 'bus to see the Antique Fair in St Andrew's Cloisters. Whom should I see there but Guru Stuart, who was looking very well? I had a lamb chop for lunch in the thirteenth-century crypt, then returned to Hellesdon with some dots that I had bought. I took my EPSON printer to the computer-shop to be looked-at. Laterer Grace popped in from next-door and I shue her the photographs of our recent trip to Pareece. Laterer still I spoke to Mamma and to Maggie.

Thur 24th Octob. Another fine day. Got up at 06H30-ish and decid to prepare a computer- file for sticky-labels. Then I can use the Olivetti printer to prepare addresses, the EPSON printer being out-of-order at the moment. The job of preparing the file took quite a long time, but I finally finished it. Now I can print sticky-labels to use on envelopes, and as I have some window-envelopes bought by mistake, I can use those envelopes, by sticking labels over the windows. (I have finished GENL0211 and I am ready to publish it.)

Then I went swimming, and when I got home I started clearing-out the Ford Transit camper-van ready to sell it. I spent the whole morning taking out all our personal possessions. Colin the gardener came. He normally comes on Tuesdays, but this last Tuesday was wet. Colin said that the motor-mower needs attention, and he recommended a firm called N.P.N. So I rang them and they will come and collect the mower tomorrow (Fri) afternoon, and take it away and fettle it. After lunch I put back into the camper-van all the bits of wood which we took out after we bought it.

Did some laundry in the washing-machine. Also waited all afternoon for a man to deliver some building-materials to be used on Saturday by young Kevin to finish my front-garden, but he never came. Spoke to Mamma and to Maggie on the telephone. And laterer I spoke to Jane Self in Littleport, who said that some folk from Norwich may be going over to L'port next month to dismantle and remove the summerhouse. Stuck the sticky-labels onto the window-envelopes. Hope to publish GENL0211 tomorrow.

Fri 25th Octob. Dampish. A nice Email from Mary in Denmark (please see Page Two above) to say that her operation went well, and the prognosis looks very good. (I don't know what that word means, but it sounds clever.) Also a nice Email from Guru Stuart to say that he has put GENL0211 onto my web-site; i.e. the www address at the top of this letter. Thank you very much, Stuart.

Had a hot bath and then went off to the local Medical Centre for my appointment at ten past nine to have a blood-test for my arthritis. As usual the nurse was unable to find any blood in my arm, so she fetched a colleague who found some. I was also guv an injection against influenza in the same session. The nurses said that I might have some sniffles tomorrow as a result of the 'flu'-jab, so we shall see. Actually I cannot remember having had even so much as a light cold for years and years. I didn't go swimming this morning as well as visiting the Medical Centre, because too much excitement is not good for me.

Came home and copied and published GENL0211; got it into the pillar-box by about 11H00. Left the car in the road in case the man comes today with the building-materials. After lunch I got out the motor-mower to be collected this afternoon. It came on to rain, so I managed somehow to to get it into the very-cluttered garagem++. It usually lives in the shed down at the bottom of the garden, but I thought it would be easierer if it were up in the garagem++ for when they come to collect it.

The other night while I was trying to get to sleep, I suddenly had an idea. The Portuguese language uses two characters which I don't think any other language uses, namely "a with a til" and "o with a til". (In case you are unfamiliar with that character, a til is "~" ; it normally never exists on its own, but sits above a lower-case character like an accent does). Nevertheless, my computer keyboard has a key for producing the til character on its own.

As the two characters described in the above paragraph are so rare, they do not exist in the normal set of characters used by computer systems, and one has to make special arrangements to produce them. So I have programmed my Olivetti printer to work automatically with the special set of Portuguese characters; and with my old computer I was able to print out all the characters I needed, using the ASCII character-numbers.

But since I have had my current computer, my Olivetti printer has been unable to produce either of these two characters using the ASCII character-numbers; what I get is "ä" and "ö", both on the monitor and on paper. A nuisance when I am trying to do my Portuguese homework.

So my brilliant idea was, that I could perhaps try using ordinary a and o, but with a til ~ as an overstrike-character. However today, when I tried it, I found that the til got obscured by the a and the o, thus: a and o . So I referred to my Lotus Ami Pro manual, and found the equivalent ANSI character-numbers; and by using those numbers with the ALT key, I do get ã and õ on the monitor-screen++.

However the next thing to try, was to see whether the printer would print those characters correctly. So I tried them; and, yes, it is wysiwyg++: the printer does print them, so my troubles are over. I hope. Incidentally, Portuguese also uses the letter "i" with an acute accent on it thus: í , which so far as I know is used only by one other language, namely Irish. But I can get that with the ASCII character-number.

During the afternoon a man came from N.P.N. and took away the motor-mower, and also another man came and delivered the building-materials. So that is all right. I should get the motor-mower back in a week or ten days' time. Laterer spoke to Mamma and to Maggie.

Also during the afternoon I have had pain in my right ankle; I think the arthritis has flared-up again. It could be due to my cutting-down on my new arthritis pills. The doctor said take one a day for the first week, then two a day, etc., up to 4 per day in the 4th week. But by the time the third week came, and I was on 3 per day, I was getting headaches and was feeling sleepy all the time. So I cut them down to one a day again.

Sat 26th Octob. Sunny and windy. Rain was forecast, but it didn't happen. Just as well, as Kevin came to do my front concreting and also Bert and Grace's, using the building- materials delivered yesterday. Went to the roundabout for a Daily Teleg. I druv there and back in the car, although I dare say I could have walked; because although my swollen right ankle was really painful during the night, this morning it is not nearly so bad. Maggie rang during the morning; she was going to the fleamercado in Rochester laterer. Don't seem to have the sniffles that the nurses warned me I might get.

A half-page article in today's Daily Telegraph about the forthcoming Presidential elections in Brasil. The article talks about Lula da Silva, the man most likely to become President, but it doesn't tell us what every Portuguese-speaker knows: the fact that "Lula" means "Squid". Also, the article mentions a gangland boss in Rio, and says that he goes under the assumed name of Fernandinho Beira-Mar. But they don't say that the name means Ferdy Seaside or Seaside Ferdy.

After lunch I had a sesta and didn't awake until 16H30. By then Kevin had finished his work and had gone. I don't know if there is any more to pay, but we shall see. Laterer spoke to Mamma and to Maggie. Maggie had been to Rochester and found me some nice dots.

Went to bed about 9.30 p.m. During the night my right knee became painful, but I shall still keep to one arthritis-pill a day until I see Doctor Tolley on Friday. Being unable to sleep I got up at 3.00 a.m. and turned all the clocks back by an hour. I hope I have remembered all of them, including the central-heating timer and the clock within the video-recorder. My version of Windows, known as "Windows ME" (Millennium Edition) automatically reset the clock within my computer without my having to do anything about it.

Sun 27th Octob. There is a tempest brewing-up. I druv in the Wagon-R to the roundabout and bought a copy of the Sunday Express. When I got home there was a message on the answering-machine. I couldn't make out what it was all about, but I recognised Mamma's voice. So I rang her, and she said that there was something wrong with the garden-shed. She couldn't quite make-out what the trouble was, because she had not yet got dressed and so couldn't go down there to see.

So I had to drop everything and drive over to Huns'ton in great pain and through tempestuous winds. When I got to Huns'ton, I saw that the tornado had blown the back door off the shed. Mamma rang Cousin Ingrid who came round, and together she and I nailed the door back again. After that the wind got wusserer and so I remained at Huns'ton, in spite of not having with me any night attire nor my arthritis-pills. Spent the rest of the day in Hun'ston in quite a bit of pain. Spoke to Maggie, who said that the wind was quite severe in Gpavesend.

Mon 28th Octob. Dry with a lot lessserer wind. Did some clerical work for Mamma and then came home to Hellesdon, where all was well. On the journey there were places where large branches had been brought down, but they had been dragged to the side of the road, so the roads were passable. Thirty or forty years ago, those branches would have been quickly taken away by people to burn on their fires, but these days hardly anybody has an open fire any more.

At Hellesdon I drew my pension and bought some stamps; also took some pills. A tele- phone-message from Anne Doe in Essex. It seems that they are without electricity at the moment, due to the wind having blown down the power-lines. So what were they going to do for home entertainment, being without television? I was flattered to hear that they were going to re-read some of my old letters in this series!

After lunch I went by appointment to the house of a former colleague, Margaret White, and picked-up some old books, which I took straight to J's F S to be stored. Came home and had a nice hot bath. In the evening I rang Mamma and also Maggie. Maggie says that she will be coming to Hellesdon tomorrow.

Tues 29th Octob. Dry, but in the afternoon it rained. Went swimming and then came home and tidied the house a bit. Had an early lunch and then a sesta. During the afternoon Maggie rang and said she was just setting off from Gpavesend. Laterer Maggie arruv about 18H45-ish, having called at Mr Barrett's chipshop for pie-and-chips for us both. The pies were delicious. Maggie had also brought with her a pile of dots about six inches deep which I looked through. They seemed to be very good ones, but of course a lot of them need repairing, which should keep me busy for a while! Maggie said that the journey was a bit fraught, with road-works near Stansted Aeroporto and a lot of rain near Barton Mills in Suffolk, but she arruv here safely. During the night I got up and did my Portuguese homework ready for tomorrow's lesson.

Wed 30th Octob. Dry and sunny. Maggie suggested that I get my leaking central-heating system finally fixed. You may remember several months ago that I tried unsuccessfully to cure it myself. I have looked-up the reference; please see GENL0204 Page Six, 29th May 2002 A.D., exactly five months ago to the very day. So I rang-up Roy Self who installed the system, and although he is retired now, he very kindly came and fixed the problem but putting in a completely new Valve. Although I am myself an amateur plumber, I was quite happy to leave that particular job for Roy to do, but I have another job looming-up in the near future that I shall tackle myself.

Actually, Roy was a clerk at the Head Office of the Norwich Union, but he did plumbing as a sideline. I was quite happy to pay him the twenty quid he asked for. Now that is done, I hope. The job I shall tackle myself is replacing the diaphragm in the loo-cistern, which is giving signs of needing to be replaced.

Maggie went out and tried to start the camper-van, but the battery is flat. So I rang the R.A.C. They said that I wasn't covered for home visits, but as I had been a member for so very long, they would make an exception in this case and they would send somebody along within an hour. Actually, when he came, it was after more than an hour, but as they were doing me a favour I didn't complain. Anyway, the man brought some jump-leads, and he started the van. So laterer we took it and left it at Mister Beetle's place; after which Maggie druv me to my Portuguese lesson. Had a nice lesson, and then Maggie druv me back to Mr Beetles, but he wasn't there. So while we were waiting for him, we went to have a look at the Lazar House, which is nearby.

The Lazar House is a building which dates from the eleventh century, and it is contemporaneous with Norwich's anglican cathedral. It is rectangular in form, with walls about a yard thick, and it was built as a sort of isolation hospital. As the time it was built, it would have been about a mile from the mediaeval city of Norwich. It housed sufferers from leprosy for several centuries until the disease died out. After which it became a barn, and since 1923 it has housed a branch of Norwich's local library service. We had a look inside the place, and it was quite impressive.

Then we returned, but Mr B was not there. Maggie and I were persuaded to bring the camper-van home, as Mr B has told his men that he is moving his premises, but doesn't yet know where to. But if we take pictures of the van and give him, he will try and interest customers with them. So we druv the Camper-van back home. Had scrambled eggs for tea, and then watched, etc.

Thurs 31 Octob. All Souls' Day. A glorious sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. First thing Maggie and I cleaned the the vehicles here: the Ford Transit van, Maggie's Suzuki Alto and my Suzuki Wagon-R. Then I used up the last four or five exposures on the film in my camera, taking pictures of the Transit van. We took the film to Tesco's supermercado to be developed and had lunch there. Then we took the pictures to Mr Beetle and he kept some to show his clients. Came home and got ready to go out. At four-thirty p.m. Maggie and I were picked-up by John Brasier, and he druv us and a lady called Annie to Houghton Hall in central West Norfolk. A stately home built by Robert Walpole, Britain's first Prime Minister in the eighteenth century, and now owned by the Marquess of Cholmondeley.

We were guv a talk with slides by our old friend Andrew Moore, one of the curators of the Norwich Museums Service, about the collection of old masters assembled and hung at Houghton by Robert Walpole, and subsequently sold by his grandson to the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. Although some of those pictures have since vanished, the majority still hang in the Hermitage in Peterborough (formerly Leningrad) in Russia. We were shown colour-slides of a lot of those pictures and were told about their history and provenance, etc. Then we went round the state apartments of the great house, being shown around by another old friend; Charlotte Crawley, who is a freelance art-historian who is working on the pictures still remaining in Houghton Hall. After that we all had a very nice meal in the stumbling- stable-block provided by a firm of outside-caterers from Walsingham. Then John druv Annie, Maggie and me back to Norwich.

Fri 1st Novemb. All Saints' Day. Dry to start with, but then showers. I had an appointmennt with the médico at 08H30, and I druv myself there in the Wagon-R. Doctor Tolley told me that my recent blood-test (please see bottom of Page Four above) has confirmed that I have something called negative-sero (or zero?) rheumatoid arthritis. So I am to see a consultant rheumatologist, but that consultation will take about six months to come through.

Meanwhile I am to have a course of steroids. I mentioned that steroids have not got a good press, but Dr T said that he is trying to treat the underlying condition, rather than the symptoms, and the only side-effect that I can expect is a gain in weight, although that is something which I really don't need. He said that I am to take six of these pills a day. Not one pill six times a day, but all six in one gulp! I agreed to all this, for what can one do?

So I got the new pills from the farmácia and took six when I got home; they were very small ones. Then Maggie and I druv to Wymondham, a nearby market-town, and spent the middle of the day there. We found some dots in a book-market run by the Methodist Church, and some more in a book-shop. Had a nice lunch in a coffee-shop which goes by the unexciting name of The Coffee Shop, and then looked in some Charity-Shops before returning to Hellesdon. Luckily we got back to the car before the rain started. Spent the evening repairing torn dots.

Sat 2nd Novemb. Dry. Got up just before eight and prepared for a man to come and change the electricity-meter; the firm sent a letter saying that it had been in use for several years and needs replacing. Somebody will come between eight a.m. and noon to do it. I suppose on a Saturday as it is the day when most working-folk are at home. So I have taken a lot of things out of the broom-cupboard so that the man can get at the meter.

With best wishes to you and yours

Organ-grinder, Noteur, Dowser, Registered Blue Badge Guide, Computer Consultant By Appointment to the Nobility, Tax-Efficient Businessman, Advanced Motorist, Landlord, Carpet-Bagger, Coastal Navigator, Inventor, 1950s Film Actor, Amateur Plumber, Amateur Electrician, Scissors-Mender; and I have noticed that since my telephone-line has been fixed, I can access the Internet every time without the MODEM mis-dialling.