Monthly Archives: August 2023

Gym, run (short), mowing, plus underground exploration, current affairs and the ace is aced

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We got back from Bournemouth late on Monday afternoon and set about doing the laundry. I felt that the sea swim had excused me from the swim doctor session.

More laundry on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, followed by mowing and a lot of ironing on Wednesday afternoon.

More mowing on Thursday – this time the paddock. The grass was almost (but, happily, not quite) too long for the mower but, compounded by the innumerable clumps of previous cuttings lying around, the mower’s cuttings chute kept blocking up. Miserable work but done (for now).

An hour in the gym on Friday morning – the first time for a few weeks so it was tough. I’ve not forgotten about the chin-up challenge but my right arm is still struggling with the tennis elbow. I can even feel it when cycling and while it’s not too bad with arm-straightening exercises it’s less than happy with exercises that bend the arm.

After two holidays in France and a week in Bournemouth, I realised that I’d not run since 11th July (although I have done some cycling and walking during that time). I got on the treadmill at the end of the gym session to see if I’d forgotten how to run. Just 1km in 5m 30s but it felt a lot harder than it should have.

In the evening I drove to Oxford to pick up our older son and his girlfriend from the station. I took them back into the city on Saturday for a wedding and collected them from it at around midnight – late for me to be up.

Oh yes … and back to Oxford Parkway station on Sunday for them to go home after a very good couple of days.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: There is no fool who is disowned by his family

2. BBC News website: Not a place to choose for an illegal excursion

A tour guide and all seven members of their party have been found dead after being trapped underground by flood waters in Moscow’s sewer system, Russian media say. Sunday’s floods, caused by heavy rain, were so rapid people could not escape.

A criminal investigation has been launched into what was described as an “illegal excursion” amid allegations that safety standards were not adhered to.

3. BBC News website: Going with the flow?

The Gulf Stream system of warm ocean currents could collapse as early as 2025, a scientific study has warned. The end of the system, which drives the Atlantic’s currents and determines western Europe’s weather, would be likely lead to lower temperatures and catastrophic climate impacts.

The system is a complicated set of currents that bring warm water north towards the pole, where it cools and sinks. If it collapses, it could lower temperatures by up to 10 or 15 degrees in Europe and lead to rising sea levels in the eastern US. It would also disrupt rain that billions rely on for agriculture.

But scientists with reservations about the study say it is not established science and it is far from certain the system will shut down this century. The last time the system stopped and restarted was during the Ice Ages about 115,000 to 12,000 years ago.

4. BBC News website: Game, set and match

American John Isner has announced he will retire after the US Open.

The 38-year-old, who has served a record 14,411 aces. He also competed in the longest tennis match in history at Wimbledon in 2010, beating Nicolas Mahut 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 over 11 hours and five minutes.

5. BBC News website: Women’s football has come far – but there’s still so far to go

World football’s governing body has opened disciplinary proceedings against Spanish football federation president for his behaviour at Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final. He kissed one of the players on the lips after she was presented with her winner’s medal on the podium, having earlier grabbed his crotch as he celebrated at the final whistle.

He apologised for the kiss on Monday, but Spain’s Prime Minister said that was ‘not enough’ and second deputy prime minister Yolanda Diaz joined those calling for him to resign.

6. BBC News website: It’s not to be sneezed at – Kleenex wiped out of Canada

Kimberly-Clark, the company behind Kleenex, has announced it is pulling its famous facial wipes from Canada. It said the decision was incredibly difficult to make but was based on “unique complexities”.

Part of Kleenex’s problem, said a marketing professor at the University of Toronto, was likely the popularity of Scotties, the facial tissue produced by the Canadian company Kruger. “They [Kleenex] really are the second place brand in Canada to Scotties,” he said, noting Scotties’ major Canadian sponsorship deals, like its presence in women’s curling.

Bournemouth, an alarm alarm, walks, cycling, swim (in that cold, salty, stuff) plus the slow lane, an interstellar shout, and banned cake.

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Monday was a slow day preparing to go down to Bournemouth – but apparently I will be more socially acceptable when I get there as I got my hair cut.

We drove to the south coast on Tuesday, just days after getting back from France. All went well and we made good progress with getting the house ready – until the early hours of Wednesday morning when we got messages that the alarm had gone off back in Oxfordshire.

Very sensibly, both sets of friends who have keys for the house back there were not contactable at that hour. I had drunk some wine with our meal so Mr Cautious decided not to simply get in the car then and there. After a slightly restless few hours sleep, I got up early and drove the 2 hours back home to investigate.

While I was en route, my training partner picked up our message and very kindly did his own inspection – finding nothing amiss. I then arrived to confirm that all was well – no sign of what might have set off the alarm (and no sign of anyone having heard it go off!). While I was there our other neighbour also appeared to check things out – what kind friends we have!

After a quick turn-around I drove back to Bournemouth in time to watch the second half of the World Cup football semi-final – bravo, the Lionesses. The alarm has, so far, stayed set without mishap.

We strolled down the seafront to get some breakfast on Thursday and our friends arrived in the afternoon and evening.

On Friday we walked into Christchurch to visit the Priory (which is excellent) and then on eastwards along the seafront to Highcliffe Castle (which was an impressive building but shut because of a wedding). A very good day with nearly 18.5 km of walking.

On Saturday we drove to Sandbanks and took the ferry to Brownsea Island – an island nature reserve in Poole Harbour, owned by the National Trust. We had an excellent afternoon walking around the island but I failed to see any of the red squirrels it is known for (grey squirrels having driven the native red ones out of most of the UK). Our friends are keen bird-watchers and we did see a lot of water birds and I am starting to recognise more of them, thanks to a bit of tuition from them.

On Sunday morning we swam in the sea – more of a general splashing about than a proper swim. It was about 16℃ (61℉) and very invigorating and, as a cold weather wimp, I was pleased to get into the water at all.

After the swim we watched the World Cup Final. It was really disappointing to lose, although Spain did deserve to win. More disappointing than the loss itself was England’s failure to play their best football (although perhaps it was really a case of Spain not letting them play any better).

After the football we all went for a very good cycle along the River Stour and back into Bournemouth centre – about 25km taken gently but really good fun. We went out for supper in the evening but the taxi firm who took us all there did not seem interested in the return trip so while we managed to get one normal-sized taxi, three of us walked back on a very mild evening. An enjoyable 3.5 miles or so.

We all left on Monday – it was an excellent break, as always, with the fine company of really good friends.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A fool cannot untie the knot tied by a wise man

Hmmmm …

2. BBC News: ‘In 1000 feet turn left, or right, or whatever’

There were 872 instances of people driving the wrong way along motorways in England in the year to 19 June. One suggested cause of the high number of cases is people blindly following satellite navigation without giving it any great thought.

A possible cause being people blindly (and incorrectly) following satellite navigation? I remember hearing of a taxi intending to take a fare from Northampton, south to Stamford Bridge (the home of Chelsea Football Club) in London – but blindly following the sat. nav. which took them north to the site of the battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire – over 100 miles in the wrong direction.

3. BBC News website: ‘And in the slow lane, representing Somalia, …’

Somalia has suspended the chairwoman of its Athletics Federation for nepotism after a novice sprinter was allowed to compete in an international sports competition. Nasra Abubakar Ali took almost twice as long as the winner to finish the 100m at the World University Games in China.

An investigation by the Somali Ministry of Youth and Sport revealed she is “not a sports person, nor a runner” but the relationship between the official and the runner has not been revealed.

4. BBC News website: Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Nasa is back in full contact with its lost Voyager 2 probe months earlier than expected, after a wrong command was made to the spacecraft, sent to explore space in 1977, changing its position and severing contact.

Nasa had originally pinned hopes on the spacecraft resetting itself in October but staff used the highest-power transmitter to send a message (an “interstellar shout”) to the spacecraft and timed it to be sent during “the best conditions” so the antenna lined up with the command.

5. BBC News website: Let them eat …. (no, not cake)

Posters for the West End run of “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” have been pulled from U.K. underground stations after breaching Transport for London (TfL) advertising rules.

Advertisements for the show originally featured a picture of a wedding cake. But this breached TfL rules on promoting “HFSS” foods (foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar).

6. BBC News website: Roll up, roll up – free money (?)

Bank of Ireland technical faults have allowed people to withdraw funds despite having little or no money in their accounts. Large queues formed at many cash machines in the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday after word of the glitch spread after posts on social media.

The bank said on Wednesday morning that the issues had been resolved and apologised for the disruption. It warned transfers and withdrawals would still be applied to customers’ accounts.

More mountains – walking and cycling, plus Tinseltown, TCR, money to burn and Barbie

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After our friend’s 70th birthday party on 29th July (we sneaked out early having warned her that we had to) we set off at 6.15 on the Sunday morning to drive out to the alps.

It was a text-book drive for me in many ways – just over 160 miles to the tunnel in 2hours 45 minutes (where we got put on a shuttle an hour earlier than we’d booked, although queues at the passport controls meant we were probably on a train 20 minutes after that). Then the remaining c.540 miles in about 8 hours 45 minutes elapsed, with just one stop.

Slightly knackering, but lovely to be back in the apartment (even though it was only 10 days since I was last there for the cycling) then food, wine and a good night’s sleep.

On Monday we prepared the apartment before collecting our younger son and his girlfriend from Geneva Airport on Tuesday. They made the most of the next few days, exploring, playing mini-golf, using the high ropes parcour area, the spa and doing the biathlon (running and shooting). They found a new bar with sport on tv (we watched one of the French matches in the women’s world cup there – surprisingly there was no one else watching) and some games machines. We relaxed and did some reading and walking.

On Friday we collected our older son and his girlfriend from Geneva and on Saturday we all went to the glorious Cirque at Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval. With 6 of us, we needed to be a bit smart so I had left my bike out there after my week’s cycling and we took my old Giant TCR2 out with us in the car.

That meant our older son and I could cycle there while the others drove – he does some cycling to commute into work and seems to be developing a liking for it. In all the times I’ve visited the cirque I’ve never done more than enjoy the views and a meal in the restaurant – but this time we added a really good hike (my wife and I did 9km and the younger folk did 10.25km). It was spectacular.

The ride back was a proper introduction to bigger climbs for our son with 450m of ascent in the last 15km but it hasn’t put him off as (at his suggestion) we got up early on Tuesday to ride to the top of the Col de Pierre-Carrée – about 730m of climbing in 11.5km – and back.

In between the cycling days we all hiked from the village, up the cable car, and then on up to the Tête des Saix at over 2000m on Monday, taking in the Lacs de l’Airon and de Vernant.

The weather forecasts were pretty bad with rain expected for most of the time we were out there – but they were almost completely wrong as we had just one wet day and one evening storm. It was a great holiday and they had booked returns on the same flight on Tuesday so just one more trip back to Geneva.

I drove back with my wife on Thursday with another car load of stuff (we took cases for them so they could travel light) and including both bikes which, happily, all fitted inside. Bravo the VW Passat estate – lots of load carrying capacity and nearly 66mpg for the 700 mile return trip.

Our sons have not been out to the alps in the summer for perhaps 20 years, one girlfriend has been out skiing with us a couple of times and the other has not been there at all. It was a bit of a risk but we doubt it could have been a more successful trip.

I went into the bike shop on Friday (a bit later than usual having slept in and not having signed up for availability).

Saturday was mowing day. After being away twice – and it being wet before and between the holidays – the grass was rampant. The lawns were tough work, but not completely awful, but I was wondering whether the paddock was going to require the chap with the tractor and topper again (like it did after the ill-advised ‘no-mow May’). I just about managed to get it mowed but it was a long, painful and frustrating process.

Sunday we supported the village by attending tea at the Reading Room (the village hall) and planning for a forthcoming trip to Bournemouth with friends.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A real family eats from the same cornmeal

2. BBC News website: Houston, we’ve had a problem here

Nasa has revealed that it has lost contact with its Voyager 2 probe billions of miles away from Earth, after mistakenly severing contact with it. Last month, the spacecraft – exploring space since 1977 – was sent the wrong command, tilting its antenna to point two degrees away from Earth. As a result, the probe has stopped receiving commands or sending data.

Nasa said it hopes communication will resume when the probe is due to reset in October.

3. Hollywood(land)

The famous Hollywood sign (in Hollywood!) is 100 years old.

It originally read ‘Hollywoodland’ and was a temporary advertisement for a local real estate development. Due to increasing recognition the sign was left up, and replaced in 1978 with a more durable all-steel structure.

4. The Transcontinental Race

The winner was Christoph Strasser who finished on 1 August. He rode 3939.27 km at a daily average of 452.96 km at an average speed of 18.90 km/h (average moving speed: 22.60 km/h). He was moving for 7d 06h 32m (84% of the time) and stopped for only 1d 10h 10m (16%).

Competitors are still spread across the continent.

5. BBC News website: ‘Money, money, money, it’s a rich fans’ world’

Argentina has announced it will punish foreign football fans who burn or tear up bank notes while attending matches in the country. The practice has become a common way for fans of clubs from elsewhere in South America (particular by fans of clubs from Brazil and Chile) to taunt home teams about the value of the Argentinian peso.

Argentina’s annual inflation rate has risen steeply in recent years and early this year passed 100% for the first time since the end of the hyperinflation of the early 1990s. Fans caught tearing up a peso bill will face up to 30 days in prison.

6. BBC News website: ‘I’m a Barbie girl … life in plastic, it’s fantastic’

The Barbie film has been banned in Kuwait and faces calls for a ban in Lebanon amid criticism in the Arab world of the movie’s social values. Kuwait acted to protect “public ethics”, the state news agency said. Lebanon’s culture minister accused the film of “promoting homosexuality”.

The Lebanese Culture Minister asked the interior ministry to “take all necessary measures to ban” Barbie. He said the film “promotes homosexuality and transsexuality… supports rejecting a father’s guardianship, undermines and ridicules the role of the mother, and questions the necessity of marriage and having a family”.