Getting back into things

It hasn't appeared on the blog before, but friends will be aware that this autumn has been quite eventful for the Peatpeople. We had quite a full session planned anyway, but none of us could have anticipated what happened to Debbie (brain haemorrhage) on the parish weekend. It makes you realise how life can just overtake you and throw any sense you might have had about the future. Certainly we were overwhelmed as a family, and I feel I'm only just ctaching up with myself 3 months on. On the positive side, Debbie's recovery has been excellent, and there appear to be no lasting effects other than a susceptibility to get tired much more quickly than 'normal'.

This time of year is full of speculation and predictions for the coming year. My prediction would be this: 2012 will have at least on significant unexpected event for all of us, and there's probably no way of guessing its nature. All we can do is get with life on the basis of what we know, and not on what we don't.

Risky Cycling

Most car drivers have experiences of cyclists not following the highway code especially well, and I know the reverse is also true. Last night when it was dark I saw a cyclist wearing dark shades with no  front lights riding at speed towards a mini-roundabout. (he did have a rear light, strangely). You have have to hand it to him, that's quite a combination of risks to take on: not being able to see, not being very visible on approach and a mini-roundabout. Just needed a lion on the loose to complete the scene.

The Cheapest (pay) Car Park in Britain?

Just off the Promenade, a short walk from our house, there's a pay-and-display car park. Most people wouldn't even notice that it's there. As you can see from the photo, it charges 50p for up to 24 hours, which is a fraction over 2p per hour

You might think that such a car park would be very popular, but at 1645 today, this was the full extent of the clientele.

To be fair, it's well used by coach tours, but it could be Morecambe's best kept secret.

Train Journeys

Full marks to Northern Trains, Virgin and B- to First Great Western. I went down to see Steve in Nailsea last week, and did the whole thing by train from Morecambe. Everything ran on time except the FGW bit from Temple Meads to Nailsea, which ran late in both directions.

Couldn't help wondering if the Morecambe ticket office has ever sold a return from Morecambe to Nailsea and Backwell before. It won't be the most obscure train journey, but it can't be a frequent occurrence.

Guarantees

The usual rule observed in everyday life is that the higher the cost of a guarantee, the less likely you are ever to need it. A by-product of this is that when something goes out of guarantee, or you don't extend the warranty for a further year for some astronomical sum, the appliance fails.

Just at the moment we're living in the middle of an exception. 3½ years into a free 5yr warranty the Smeg* dishwasher gave up. Error code 6. Someone came, checked it out, ordered parts, came back, replaced parts. Next wash error code 6 is flashing. Canny engineer on 3rd visit spots that error code 6 came up 1 minute after the first error code (8) has flashed. Nifty concealment strategy from dishwasher is now thwarted. Parts are on order. 4th visit awaited.

It doesn't quite match the best warranty claim I've ever been involved with. At St James', Whitley we had a flat roof on the main body of the church, and one morning water was pouring through near the pulpit. Church roof + leak usually = large bills and an appeal. However Pete, the church warden, had the presence of mind to check the filing cabinet. The roof had been resurfaced and had a 10 yr warranty. Luckily the work had been done 9½ years previously. Result: a free repair.

Why can't it always work like that?

* I feel the need to point out this is a bog standard, white box dishwasher, not a v expensive retro-style brightly coloured one!

Halloween confusion

It's been a surprisingly quiet Hallowe'en here at the Rectory. A couple of small kids properly supervised by nearby parent and one group of teenagers. We were well armed with a good supply of fun-size Twix, but still have most of them. Still a bit to go. Also, not too many fireworks, although they are about the only thing our dog isn't scared of (he fears people, dogs, the dishwasher, balloons, a greeting card I received with collies on...)

According to Jonathan Ross this morning Hallowe'en or All Hallows Eve is a pagan festival. I know what he means - the Christians parked a festival on top of a pagan one (as we did for Easter, Christmas, etc) but the pagan festival was Samhain, not All Hallows Eve.

Meanwhile some Christians worry about people being drawn into evil by participating. Not quite sure how buying spider-web crisps from Marks and Spencer puts in the hands of demons. You could make a socialist observation about secular capitalism needing symbolic moments it doesn't really believe in to exploit us. As my friend Steve observes, some people think commercialisation will draw people into the evil of Halloween and then immediately moan that it takes people away from the reality of Christmas. It can't do both!

Maybe we need to rediscover celebrating 'Eves' instead of spending weeks marking a festival so we're fed up with it when it finally arrives.

Metric

This probably won't make me popular, especially with those who are convinced that there is a massive European conspiracy to take over Britain. I think we should have gone completely metric when the system was first introduced into public usage. Yes, I know, it would mean no more pints of beer/milk or miles per hour. (Although I buy 500ml bottles of beer to drink at home and my petrol/diesel for the car in litres with no apparent ill-effects) It's just confusing. The flour and sugar comes in grammes, but the recipe is in ounces. 

In Australia they took the hard decision that it would all change in one go. Here we are bringing up another generation of children who talk about people being 5'9" (instead of just under 175cm). This was prompted by a recent query about road signs. On the radio one pro-metric person was in favour of more metrication, meanwhile the UKIP person was predictably sceptical, alleging creeping Europeanisation. Although, to be fair, they both agreed that a proper debate about a once and for all switch-over would be better than this rather unsatisfactory jumble of imperial measures and metric, with its "metric martyrs".

A hard decision was taken to go over to decimal currency, and the same set of arguments circulated then - won't be the same, can't understand it, we'll be ripped off, etc. Yet who now could quickly add 17.5% to £2 11s & 6d?* In the same way, if the brave decision had been made years ago, we would all be used to it by now, and not worrying about how many stone we weigh. 

 Just off to make 250ml of coffee 

* That's 2 pounds, 11 shillings and 6 [old] pence £2 11s & 6d = (2*240) + (11*12) + 6 = 618 old pence. 17.5% of 618 = 108.15 old pence. Total = 726.15 old pence = (3*240) + 6 [we'll ignore the fraction of a penny] = £3 0s 6d

Local Lunch

Had an excellent all-day breakfast in Food4thought - Morecambe's best kept secret cafe. It's located in premises on the end of the Poulton War Memorial Hall, opposite the parish church. Check out their bargain menu here. Open Tue - Fri 12noon - 2pm

Morecambe Bay sunset

Looking forward to seeing a few more sunsets like this. Took it on Wednesday.

Auspicious Date

Thanks to Dave Walker for pointing this out before it arrived. Today you could mark the following moment:

12:34:56 on 07/08/09

What was I doing just before twenty-five to one? Clearing the office up for leaving. Never mind, it was a memorable moment to be doing it in.

Multitasking

The lack of blog posts indicates that I have been a little bit busy over the past week or so. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to focus on what needs to be done in the present, with a move of job and house pending. However, we've made good progress this week - the removals and various other contractors are booked, and we even got a bit of painting done.

Meanwhile I am trying to wrap up what remains at the University of Cumbria. I am trying to ensure no-one is left not knowing where things are or who to contact. You can't cover all the bases, but I'm trying to ensure transition is reasonably smooth. Today I went to Carlisle and talked things over with my colleague there, who will be acting 'Senior Chaplain' until a new one is appointed in Lancaster. Tomorrow I'm back in the office, sorting email, paper and computer files.

Sooner or later you just have to abandon the project I guess.

Journey Through the Past: 1

If you're a Neil Young fan (like me), and you just googled the title of this totally weird film and album, sorry - this is about something else altogether. I heard the album long ago; the film I have never seen. Anyway, back to the post...

As I'm starting to learn more about my future home town of Morecambe, it has made me think a lot about some of the places I have worked and lived in previously. My first ordained job was a curate at St Mary's, Greasley.



Greasley is both a church and a civil parish on the Notts/Derbys border, and includes part of Eastwood. The Church is in a lovely rural setting, although the parish had 14,000+ residents when I was there! It goes back to the Domesday book and has lots of associated history. Eastwood is famous for two things: 1) D.H.Lawrence was born there, and 2) the Midland Railway was formed at a meeting at the Sun Inn.

Greasley Church itself features in at least two novels - it's Minton Church in Lawrence's Sons and Lovers and Willey Green Church in Women in Love. When a tea-shop was proposed, I suggested they call it Minton's, which survives as a name to this day at the excellent tea rooms run by Judy and Roger. (Minton is also a make of china tea sets, of course) Greasley also inspired a Lawrence short story called A Fragment of Stained Glass which draws on the fact that glass from nearby Beauvale Priory depicting St Lucy and St Agatha was found in the farmhouse built on the site and transferred to Greasley. The conversation depicted was probabl imagined in the huge old vicarage, which still stands across the road from the church.

Something I've just noticed is that the Beauvale Priory ruins may be open to the public soon, which will make a small tragic piece of Reformation history accessible. The last Prior was one of the first martyrs, and is commemorated by an annual pilgrimage by the Catholic Diocese.

Apparently Eastwood is an excellent example of the region's distinctive accent, although coming from Nottingham myself, it's all very familiar to me! They always get it wrong on films and TV dramatisations; everyone sounds Yorkshire. The challenge now is whether I ever manage a convincing Lancashire through living up here.

More Pigeons

We have another pigeon in the nest on top of the security light. That's what I call recycling!

The Long Goodbye

Events to mark my leaving Uni of Cumbria seem to be extending over several weeks - CU event weeks ago, LU event on Saturday, InSpire barbecue was on Sunday, Leavers' Celebration will be on Wednesday, visits to campuses in early July, but I don't actually go until August. It's all about catching people before they disappear. It all feels a bit weird saying goodbye, and then popping up again the next day. And I'll still be just down the road!

I guess you just have to go with it, and trust everyone understands.

Absent

Not been blogging lately. Must be evidence that I am a bit distracted, busy, and doing a lot of writing things. You can only produce so much at any one time.

-- Post From My iPod Touch

Chicks

Managed to get another (blurry) view of both pigeon chicks this morning. Shortcomings of our digital camera exposed brutally by the distance and conditions!

Royal Mail

Last week I got a plastic bag with sincere apologies from the Royal Mail, which contained an empty envelope that was ripped down two sides. No contents. The envelope had a 90p stamp on it, and there was no return address.

I tried downloading their claim form to say that I had lost some mail; the download didn't work. I phoned the helpline (an 0845 number) and eventually got through the options/warnings that my call may be monitored/irritating music to speak to an operator. I was told nothing could be done as I didn't know who the mail came from or what it contained.

Now, I can see that I can't claim compensation for something of unknown value. However, I have lost some mail, and I'm not responsible for the loss which has been drawn to my attention. Thought I might get a packet of stamps or something. Am now a bit stuck to know what to do next - after all the sender may not follow up the letter, as I have no idea who they are!

So, if you're sending me (or anyone else) a letter, please note the following:

Lesson 1: Put a return address on every envelope.

Lesson 2: Follow up unanswered mail with a call or email.

My theory as to the lost contents of the letter? I think it may have been a free sample of publicity material I requested, so probably no serious harm done.

Pigeon update 2

We have 2 chicks! They like to duck down (boom boom!) into the nest, so getting a photo is proving tricky, but we have two really quite large chicks. Every now and then a parent perches on top of the vent for our gas fire and we get coo-ing emanating from the artificial coals! Luckily for them we're not using the fire now the weather is warmer

Do you love the sound of breaking glass?

I don't just mean in a crowded room. Over the last few years, the possibilities for recycling have grown hugely, which is excellent. With a house-move on the horizon, we're going through a lot of stuff at the moment, and charity shops and recycling banks will be doing a roaring trade.

The thing is, I've been thinking about glass. It's great to recycle glass - it uses much less energy to recycle a bottle than to make one from scratch. My question is: wouldn't it be much, much better to have returnable bottles instead?

When I was a kid, I remember home delivered beer. Davenports, a Birmingham brewery, delivered in Nottingham, and the returnable bottles came in a wooden (returnable) crate. They even had a song and I can remember the tune and the TV ad! Apparently they have no copy of the classic ad that we Midlanders remember, so check out your VHS tapes - Highgate Brewery were offering a reward.

Also, I remember soft drinks and beer came in returnable bottles at the off-licence (or beer-off as we called them in the East Midlands). You got 5p back on the bottle when you took it back for something else from the shop. Simple!

Over in the USA, they have bottle collection points at supermarkets that scan the bar codes as the bottles are returned and automatically print out a credit note to spend in-store. The only condition is that the store sells the beer brand. Not sure whether the bottles are recycled or washed and refilled, but it's a start.

Now I wonder what that would do to energy consumption, recycling rates and even litter. If every bottle was returnable and worth, say 5p or 10p? Would we see quite so many shattered bottles of Becks, etc in the streets on a Sunday morning?

Spot the Pigeon

I had to put this online. This was taken a few minutes ago - it's one of our security lights.