Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in East, North and Central London & Northamptonshire.

Week 363, Saturday 29^th May until Friday 4^th June 2021.

Bank holiday weekend last weekend, I went into the capital more than I have in the last 15 months.  In the old days I travelled on public transport twice a day to get to and from work on a number of tubes and trains.  Last weekend on both visits I travelled on a lot of different types of transport.  My friend and I really were excited to be back in London.

Part of the fun of course was we were not rushing to work concerned about being late.  The weather was very hot, we were relaxed with nothing was planned.

Highlights of these visits include visiting Hampstead Heath.  First popping in to a lovely café/bakery for brekkie, then just roaming around on the heath lost trying to find Kenwood House (it happens every time).  Walking around St John’s Wood, wondering how much the houses cost and who lived behind the huge gates.  Travelling on the top deck of a bus and passing the world’s most famous zebra crossing at Abbey Road.  Oh, eating cake and drinking coffee in a very small cafe we like to visit in Baker Street.  And enjoying roses in Regents Park.

It really was a lovely couple of visits into town.  I’m not planning on it again soon, maybe that’s the future for me, this is how I will enjoy a city I have never really been a big fan of.

And Now For Something Completely Different……

As I have already mentioned last weekend was an extremely warm, sunny bank holiday.  Due to the recent unlocking I thought that most people would probably have made their way to the beach to sup a cold drinks, lick ice cream and end the day with sore red peeling skin.  Not being a sun worshipper I decided to something different, visit the local dump.  Over the last year of various lockdowns my friend (who I live with) and I have gathered a number of things that we really didn’t need any more.  What better way to spend a bank weekend than going to the tip.

I was very wrong; it would seem certainly that people all around my local area also had a lot to dispose of.  The queue outside the dump was long, remember this was the hottest day of the year, the last thing I expected or wanted was a stop/start traffic jam just to so my duty to throw away rubbish away in a responsible way.

Just to get the gates took about 15 minutes, of course I considered doing a U-turn, but couldn’t face having to bring the rubbish back on another occasion.  As I steered the vehicle between the gates a man appeared wearing Hi-Viz shouting about how he was going to close the gates, due to the number of cars waiting within the centre (this included us) who still had a wait in a long queue to reach the actual recycling centre.  I could tell that a number of drivers stuck on the road were far from happy from the shouting and the honking of horns.  This was when my friend and I found out that there was only 45 minutes left until the centre closed; no wonder they were locking the gates early.

Finally I turned into the actual centre, normally when visiting I have to find the right section to throw different materials in so that the rubbish can be sorted.  But that day the staff were just telling everyone to throw everything on to a mountain in the general waste area.  It looks like nothing that afternoon would be sadly recycled.  It was then I noticed that only 3 cars got in behind us before the gates had been locked.

That bank holiday Sunday is one I won’t forget in a hurry.  Next time my friend says “let’s visit the tip”, I will drive her in the opposite direction and head for the nearest beach 32 miles away.  Thinking about this, it would have been quicker to drive that distance than go to the dump 4 miles away.  What a strange way to spend a Sunday.  

Next week read about my return to Tuddenham Mill with members of the family.  This trip has been canx twice (Oct 20 and Jan 21) due to “you know what”.  Its finally happening, you can read all about it in next weeks So-Called Blog.

And Finally……

Overheard a man talking about how he woke up recently and was shocked by his reflection, because he looked like a cat.  I was tempted to ask if I could come to his next party.

At Kenwood House, I heard staff talking on the radios saying “Echo 1 to Echo 2”.  I wonder if they were Empire Strikes Back fans.

When a large bumble bee flew in lost through the open French windows while home working, my friend vacated the room quicker than a bad smell.  Don’t panic, I carefully helped it find its way back into the garden.

Due to the extreme heat this week, I left a bowl of cool water outside for all the cats that visit the garden.

My Mid Life Crisis Conts……

This week I have watched:

“Breeders”, (S2, ep 1 & ep 2).  “Building Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Power Station”, (S1, ep 1, TX: 02/06/21).  “Brian Cox’s Adventures In Time And Space”, (S1, ep 1, TX: 30/05/21).  “Click”, (TX: 29/05/21).  “Colony”, (S1, ep 8).  “Frasier”, (S4, ep 5).  “Friends”, (S9, ep 23). “Gardeners Worlds”, (2021, ep 5, TX: 16/04/21)(ep 6, TX: 23/04/21)(ep 7, TX: 30/04/21).  “Have I Got News For You”, (S61, ep 9, TX: 04/06/21).  “Hellraiser”, (1987).  “Inside Chernobyl’s Mega Tomb”, (TX: 21/12/16).  “Inside No. 9”, (S6, ep 4).  “Intergalactic”, (S1, ep 6).  “Ragnarok”, (S2, ep 2).  “Springwatch 2021”, (ep 5, TX: 01/06/21(ep 6, TX: 02/06/21)(ep 7, TX: 03/06/21(ep 8, 04/06/21).  “Stargate Atlantis”, (S1, ep 17 to ep 19).  “Star Trek (Original Series)”, (S2, ep 18 & ep 19).  “Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens”, (2015).  “Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi”, (2017).  “Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker”, (2019).  “Star Wars Vintage: The Story Of The Faithful Wookie”, (1978).  “The Count Of Monte Cristo”, (S1, ep 2 to ep 4).  “The Great British Sewing Bee“, (S7,ep 8, TX: 02/06/21).  “The Last Leg”, (S22, ep 1, TX: 04/06/21).  “The Masked Dancer (UK)”, (S1, ep 1, 29/05/21).  “The Nevers”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 3).  “This Time With Alan Partridge”, (S2, ep 6). “Van Helsing”, (S2, ep 4).  “We are Lady Parts”, (S1, ep 5 & ep 6).  “Z Nation”, (S5, ep 1).

This week I have listening to:

“Anglophilia”, (S2, ep 4, 06/11/18).  “Betamax Video Club”, (ep 68, 13/05/20).  “Box Of Delights”, (S1, ep 22, 01/11/19)(ep 23, 05/11/19)(ep 24, 08/11/19)(ep 25, 12/11/19).  “Coronavirus Global Update”, (BBC World Service) (29/05/21)(30/05/21) (31/05/21)(01/06/21)(02/06/21)(03/06/21)(04/06/21).  “Doctor Who”, (TeeVee)(The Incomparable)(S10, ep 6, 21/05/17)(ep 7, 28/05/17).  “Game Of Thrones”, (TeeVee)(S6, ep 2, 02/05/16)(ep 3, 09/05/16).  “Griefcast”, (ep 143, 02/056/21).  “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha”, (ep 38, 02/06/21).  “NASA: Gravity Assist”, (04/06/21).  “NASA: Houston We Have A Podcast”, (ep 198, 04/06/21).   “Nick Abbot Whole Show”, (29/05/21)(30/05/21) (04/06/21).  “Rob Beckett And Josh Widdecombe Lockdown Parenting Hell”, (S2, ep 38 (ep 109) 01/06/21)(ep 39 (ep 110) 04/06/21).  “Something Who”, (ep 7, 12/12/19)(ep 8, 19/12/19).  “Space Soliders Podcast”, (Chapter Twelve, “Trapped In The Turret”, 29/06/21).   “The Audio Guide To Babylon 5”, (ep 31, 12/07/15).  “The Nick Abbot Habit”, (02/06/21).  “The Skewer”, (BBC Radio 4/Sounds)(S4, ep 1, 02/06/21).  “ The Space Above Us”, (012, 08/09/16)(013, 22/09/16)(014, 06/10/16)(015, 20/10/16)(016, 03/11/16) (017, 17/11/16)(018, 01/12/16)(019, 15/12/16)(020, 29/12/16)(021, 12/01/17)(022, 26/01/17)(023, 09/02/17)(024, 23/02/17)(025, 09/03/17).  “The Supermassive Podcast”, (ep 17, 28/05/21).  “This Week In Time Travel”, (23/05/17).  “Taby Hadoke’s Time Travel’s – Happy Times And Places”, (16.1, “Robots Of Death”).   “Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels – Indefinable Magic”, (1.7, 31/05/21).  “WTB”, (S2, ep 17 (ep 39) 04/06/21).  “What’s Your Problem With Nick Abbot And Carol Mcgiffin”, (31/05/21).  “Wolf And Owl“, (02/06/21).

Songs I enjoyed this week, were by:

“Morrissey”,  Elastica”,  “Gene”,  “Hole”,  “Keane”,   “Norman Greenbaum”,  “Panic! At The Disco”,  “Shed Seven”,  “Simple Minds”,  “Space”,  “The Dandy Warhols”,  “The White Stripes”.