Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in East and West London, Surrey and West Sussex (The NEXT Chapter).

Week 270 Saturday 17^th until Friday 23^rdAugust 2019.

Happy 3rd Wedding Anniversary to SAZ and Tim on 19 August.

 “Love you guys”.

I always enjoy an encounter with a wild animal. This week while feeling stressed and tired on the tube I had a surprisingly lovely couple of minutes. I was watching my tablet desperately trying to keep awake, when a ladybird landed and just sat there. There were several stops until I reached my destination; I kept still hoping that the insect would stay still until I got off. Then it could fly off into the late August morning gloom above London.

 “I hope there Oyster card was topped up”.

No, this beauty had its own agenda! After a few minutes making me smile and forget my worries it flew off. Its work with me was done! I’d like to think that it disappeared to find another tired commuter and make them smile.

 “But, is it art!”.

A nature story that has been in the news this week. A van was stolen in Leeds last Saturday, which had a cat carrier inside that contained a blind hedgehog named Stephen. Stephen is being cared for by Andrew’s Hedgehog Hospital near Scunthorpe since he was squirted in the face with chemicals in June. He was being taken to a local market so that people could see for themselves the plight of hedgehogs.

 “You get the message”.

I have been checking the news websites regularly throughout the week, with no news that he had been recovered. Early afternoon on Thursday I logged on to read that Stephen had been found by a couple walking their dog. He was still in the cat carrier and appears to have been fed and given water. The scumbag that stole the van, is slightly less of a scoundrel in mine and many others opinion. The van can be replaced, Stephen is a one off. I’m so pleased to have had to rewrite this part of the ramble late in the week because of good news. This story has given me a little more faith in humanity.

If you would like to make a donation to Andrew’s Hedgehog Hospital please visit http://www.andrewshedgehoghospital.org.uk

Or find them on Facebook at Andrew’s Hedgehog Hospital.

 “Proudly wearing my Sri Lankan flag”.

And Now For Something Completley Different……
I’ve talked before about the fact that I work in a call centre. The large room is two call centres that deal with different parts of London. But both take a variety of telephone calls for several public services.

 “A world of plants and flowers”.

Recently I moved to a new desk, one which allows me to see the other side of the room, the other call centre! What I noticed straight away is that they are not as busy as we are. At one point on Tuesday’s afternoon we had 20 calls waiting to be answered. Looking over at the other authorities call team there were officers playing office tennis hitting back and forth a scrunched-up paper ball. A couple of were reading various websites and one or two were standing chatting. I need to see if there are any jobs on that side of the room. I have no issues sitting flicking bogies at the screen to check if they stick. Or picking fluff out of my belly button and weaving it in to a ball. Yes, I could definitely do that and get paid.

 “How beautiful are these workers”.

I hate my job, but I believe it’s better to be busy. The day must really drag in an environment like that if you don’t have a lot to do most of the day. It’s nearly two years that I have worked there, it’s time I got out or worked my way to the other side of the room.

And Now Time For An Apology……

 “Why have only one coffee and cake?”.

It’s at this point I would like to apologise to all the people who were standing in the queue behind me at the bank on Thursday morning. Don’t worry I hadn’t guffed (that was my previous visit). The reason I was there was to deposit money into my account. The problem was I couldn’t remember how much!

 “That’s right, ignore me!”.

The poor women behind the desk smiled politely as I counted and recounted the notes, then the coins. It was early; I was tired I just found it difficult to count. I sensed the queue getting longer behind me, I didn’t look. Mainly because I didn’t want to catch the eye of the sweet looking grandma as she pulled out a anti-tank rocket launcher from her wheeled shopping trolley. The grannies around where I work are known for their violence and are not to be messed with.

 “before and after”.

Yes, I am deeply sorry to all those in the branch while I faffed about like a toddler with an itchy nappy! I promise in future i will know exactly how much I would like to put in to the account. Plus I’ll have it ready, instead of having to rummage around my bag, I hope I didn’t make any of you late for the rest of your morning.

 “Cheese”.

And Finally……

A man passed with a two small children. I heard him say “unless you eat all your dinner, you won’t get any sweets “. I’ll have to try that with a few hobbits I know!

 “The castle gatehouse”.

While visiting the world garden of Lullingstone castle in Kent, I became distracted by a number of vintage planes circling above very noisily. Later i discovered that these were taking part in Biggin Hill Air show. I must go one year.

 “Thats a BIG Bird”!.

My Mid Life Crisis Conts……

This week I have mainly been watching:

“A Girls Guide To TV”, (TX: 09/06/18). “All About Steve”, (2009). “Bauhaus 100”, (TX: 21/08/19). “Bauhaus Rules With Vic Reeves”, (TX: 21/08/19). “Click”, (ep 1006, TX: 17/08/19). “Dancing D.i.C – Yes D.i.C Dances”, (TX: 15/05/19). “Dexter”, (S2, ep 3 to 7). “D.i.C In Suggested Reality-Pocket D.i.C Beta Test”. “D.i.C Talks”, (ep 2, TX: 22/02/18). “Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child”, (S1, ep 1, TX: 23/11/1963). “Doctor Who, Castrovalva”, (S19, ep 1, TX: 04/01/1982). “Due Date”, (2010). “Fear The Walking Dead”, (S5, ep 10). “Final Space”, (S2, ep 9). “From Dusk Till Dawn”, (1996). “Gameface”, (S2, ep 6). “Ghost Town”, (2008). “Inside The Factory”, (S5, ep 4, TX: 20/08/19). “Kathy Burke’s All Women”, (S1, ep 2, TX: 20/08/19). “Legion”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 8)(S2, ep 1). “Lucy And D.i.C (Original Short)”, (2017). “Lucy And D.i.C”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 3). “Lucy And D.i.C, Mini-Adventures”, (ep 1 & ep 2). “Lucy And D.i.C, Season 1 Outtakes”. “Lucy And D.i.C, Season 1 Trailer”, (TX: 09/07/19). “Mortimer And Whitehouse Gone Fishing”, (S2, ep 4, TX: 23/08/19). “Natural World: The Octopus In My House”, (2019/20, ep 5, TX: 22/08/19). “Pandora”, (S1, ep 6). “Revolutions: Ideas That Changed The World”, (S1, ep 5, TX: 20/08/19). “Skies Above Britain”, (S1, ep 1, TX: 17/08/16)(ep 2, TX: 24/08/16)(ep 3, 31/08/16)(ep 4, TX: 07/09/16). “The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan”, (S2, ep 4, TX: 18/08/19). “The Rook”, (S1, ep 5).

This week I have mainly been listening to:

“30 Animals That Made Us Smarter (BBC World Service)”, (S1, ep 22, 19/08/19). “Codes That Changed The World (BBC Radio 4)”, (ep 1, 06/04/15)(ep 2, 07/04/15)(ep 3, 08/04/15)(ep 4, 09/04/15)(ep 5, 10/04/15). “Daddy Look At Me”, (S1, ep 12, 22/08/19). “Go Guerilla FilmCast”, (ep 61, 19/08/19). “Iain Lee (Bonus)”, (16/08/19). “Iain Lee (Highlights)”, (15/08, 16/08, 19/08, 20/08, 21/08, 22/08/19). “LBC Podcast: Nick Abbot (Whole Show)”, (17/08, 23/08/19). “NASA: Houston We Have A Podcast”, (ep 106, 23/08/19). “NASA In Silicon Valley Live”, (24/06/19). “NASA In Silicon Valley Live: Apollo 50^th Anniversary Show”, (19/07/19). “Rule Of Three”, (08/08/19). “Space Boffins Podcast: TheNakedScientist”, (10/05/13) (10/07/13) (10/08/13) (10/10/13) (10/12/13) (10/04/17) (10/05/17) (10/06/17) (10/07/17) (10/10/17) (12/03/18). “Soundtracking With Edith Bowman”, (ep 156, 23/08/19). “Strange Times”, (ep 312, 18/08/19). “The Angelos And Barry Podcast”, (23/01/15, rpt 21/08/19)(19/02/15, rpt 21/08/19)(24/10/18, rpt 21/08/19). “The Nick Abbot Habit”, (19/08/19). “Morrissey”, “Green Day”, “Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds”, “The Strokes”, “U2”, “Placebo”, “Manic Street Preachers”, “Nirvana”, “Snow Patrol”, “Blondie”, “Train”, “The Chemical Brothers”.