Baking Books

I appear to have done it again.  

I have accidentally collected too many books to read. 

Certainly I took advantage of an 'Amazon' card to obtain three 2nd hand books via 'World of Books' for just over £7, this I find the best way to obtain them, but am I to blame for other books being given or er, found in places?  They cannot be left lying around, someone might steal them, so taking them to a safe refuge such as my bookshelf is important.  

Looking at these books I am wondering why I was looking through the 'Amazon' shelves again just because there is another £7 or so pounds to be used up.  Shall I go for more Ronald Blythe, or another trip around the country?  Possibly yet another 'must have ' Great War book that ought to be on my shelf?  Suggestions, and I get them, to obtain books teaching spelling, grammar and 'How to Write Properly,' will be ignored as they were while I was at school.

A woman on Twitter the other day mentioned how she attempted to offer books to the local school.  They were grateful but only took one.  It appears kids will not read books, possibly the mobile phone and online research is good enough to get them through, depending on the subject.     

Trying to warm the place up cheaply, I decided to bake what one woman called 'Wartime Shortbread.'  Whether it has any other name I know not.  4oz, marge, 8 oz flour, 2 oz castor sugar, she says, though I tended to just dump it in, and 20 minutes later out comes a biscuit.  

The last one I made tasted OK, though some fool had put in too much castor sugar.  The same fool accidentally put in more this time.  I need something late at night to accompany my tea and this is the answer, a cheap biscuit.  Even I can do it, but it will never sell.

A similar version using oats worked last time, but it tends to put on weight when you just eat the lot in one go!

Slow Friday

I was loitering without intent around lunchtime today when the Amazon driver appeared.  This is a good guy, he often calls, rarely for me, and was struggling with his phone.  The lass next door has allowed the number to fall from the bell and he must have been confused by this.  Normally they just ring mine.  He is a gentleman and attempted to call her, receiving no answer as she is working, so eventually rang my bell.  Another box for next door, quite light, which is just as well, and I am happy to take them in.  

I even saw our dim postman walking dreamily in the rain yesterday, no mail for us obviously, but it could be he has put it in next door.   We wait and see.  Royal Mail is awful these days, all because of privatisation and the greedy bosses trying to make the parcel side succeed.  This, some say, is because they wish to buy it themselves!  The more I look at Keir Starmer the more I realise there is no chance of this privatisation being reversed.  Indeed, I winder if anything will change.  The more I consider Starmer the less I like him.  If only we had a sensible 3rd option.

Forced to Purchase Books...

 

It's that woman's fault! 

I was trying not to, but she made me do it.

Today I sat quietly, attempting not to pay out money for anything.

This is good, I like it.

I avoided the usual sites, I kept away from the teasing adverts, I ignored Etsy and E-Bay, and indeed all the online charity shops.  I ignored the book shops as well, especially them.  One look and I am paying out money.

Then she tells me she has found a book on Amazon about  Rome, which sounded tantalising.

I of course would not look into Amazon to find such a book.  

This was a no-go area for me today.

I went to Amazon, just to look and see if the book was any good.

Sadly it was, it was also expensive and I dutifully looked away and avoided spending cash.

Then I noticed the 'Kindle' version was only £2:20 so I purchased that.  

Unwillingly you hear.

However, as I was there I glanced, a mere glance, at the wish list I established some time ago.

I found I had forgotten many of the books there, some indeed since obtained on the cheap.

However, accidentally, I managed to notice that one was available for only just on £3. 

Add £2:80 P&P and I was a way.  

Blast!  

I have done it again!

I must never look into bookshops!

It's all that woman's fault...

Everydaypeoplecartoons

A Wander in the Sunshine

In a vain effort to find life again I took off quite early for Tesco.  Saturday morning among the masses is often invigorating.  It was however, like the misty glinting sunshine, quite peaceful and the healthy ingredients sought were soon found.  Healthy, that is those rumoured to stimulate the brain, Bluberries and very dark chocolate for instance, were joined by Flax, Chia seeds and Hemp, the latter for one of my nieces husband's Christmas's, he will probably think it will get him high.  He is one of those convinced cannabis is the answer to all problems, from cancer to covid.  This, he attempts to prove but he so far has not been successful.

The rest is for my latest health trend, and having paid through the nose for these goods, along with my other calorie controlled foodstuffs, I should look like Charles Atlas by Christmas.

This may not however, be the case.

 

I had to look twice at these balls hanging on the trees.  These trees were only planted a few years ago, 10 maybe, and I do not remember any fruit on them last year, though I could be mistaken.  'Conkers,' all around, at least the outer shells, as it appears some kids have been having a go at them already.  The more mature trees all around have certainly passed their fruit onto the public as the mess around their feet reveals.  Many a child, and not a few adults, will now be enjoying themselves with such on pieces of string.  Entertainment is easy, computers or no.

 

 

Having walked home from Tesco carrying a heavy but healthy bag it is almost a delight to walk without any weight attached.  Having lost a stone and a half I rather hoped walking would ease, it looks like another stone must go.  At least once that stone has gone my old shirts may fit once again.  

A sun drenched public garden, with a bit of early haze, is a delightful thing.  All were happy apart from at least once screaming child, the fruit of the children's play area at the top end.   
 

The last of the roses blossomed happily in the sun.  A large bush, almost a tree, once full now with only this lot left in any decent condition.  The volunteers who help the gardners do a great job of keeping these plants going.  

 

The idea was to walk round and energise the bulk, instead I felt my knees objecting.  Naturally, this park is on a slope, and to go homewards meant going uphill.  I await my lottery win so I can employ a servant to drive me uphill when my knees tire.  This however, may be an unfulfilled dream.

I wandered about, as always getting strange looks from women with kids, clearly women who read 'those stories' and listen to 'old women's tales,' and most of them appear neurotic as a result.  Even young dad's look sheepish, though that might be because they are not used to doing such work as watching kids.  

 

As I headed towards the gate I saw this man stiing low down and apparently unaware I was approaching.  Moving slowly along the path I got two decent shots of him before he felt he had posed enough and disappeared under the bush.   Usually Robins are very wary, quickly flitting out of distance and hiding in the tree.  This one may have been asking himself what life was all about, or where has the wife gone, or wondering what football was on today.  He appeared preoccupied but once he moved he did not show up again to ponder.

I don't think much of this fountain myself, it's all a bit weird I say.  There is a rumour it represents a kid who drowned in the river.  I don't blame him if he thought they would do this to him!

I kept going when common snense told me to return home, eat and sleep.  Common sense is as you know in short supply these days and it failed to appear with me also.  Instead I continued up the slope, across the town, passed all the workers still attempting to finish refurbishing the High Street, and noticed the old church had a door open.  I peeked in, something was going on, so I entered and enquired off the two young ladies on guard what was amiss?  "It's a Ladies Day," they said grinning.

I made my excuses and left!

I wandered into 'Clintons' Card shop and glanced at the horrendous Christmas stock on display, almost none of which was suitable for my needs.  However, I purchased three £25 Amazon cards towards the Christmas present stock and was picked up off the floor by the helpful young woman working the till after I fainted when I realised just how much I was paying for this.  She grinned as I explained the vast number of women I had to serve in the family and how I was failing to remember the pin number I have used for almost 30 years.  A very helpful young woman, not unsual around here I must say.

Heading home I met a young man from the Kirk and we put the church world to rights, OK I mean we grumbled a lot, and then were joined in our grumbling by one of his old workmates, so our grumbling widened to include much of the local world.  In all, this was a very enjoyable imitation of a group of gossipping old women.  I then headed home much to my knees relief and now await the Scotland football team playing Israel for the (I think) ninth time in 3 years!  The draw for competitions must be changed I say.  

Facebook, Twitter, Google and Amazon...

Facebook, Twitter, Google and Amazon are some of the social media I have been indulging in recently.  Nothing has satisfied and all appears rather dismal in truth. 
Facebook, of course went wonky after the last Microsoft download, other things now work, once I have found the fault, but facebook is dead.  I may produce a new page later but for now it lies forgotten.
Twitter I use for most of my up to date information about the real world, mostly useful.  These recent days have been dire however.  The news is depressing, little of astounding interest appears, and Boris still lies all day and gets away with it.  
Google of course remains Google.  A helpful site if you seek information and wish them to store all the info connected to you and your 'friends' in their underground servers somewhere under Greenland. 
I am choosing to use Duck Duck Go more often, they claim you cannot be tracked, but tend to use Bing, which is Microsoft I believe.  Someone somewhere is watching you always.
Amazon.  How can we leave out Amazon?  That nice Jeff Bezos does not get on too well with that nice Donald Trump so that is one good thing to say about him.  What his employees say may be different. 
Just think, we did not require such organisations 25 years ago, how did it all change?  Far seeing individuals?  Clever computer geeks?  What was it that enabled such organisations to rise so quickly and take over much of the world?  Enabled by a public unwilling to read the T and Cs, unless we are lawyers there is little point, and all of us to stupid or without the power to stop them using our, and our friends, and our next door neighbours information as they like, we see them gaining power and money by living of our backs and dumping adverts unwanted upon us.  AdBlockPlus deals with most of these on the laptop, not on the phone, and now YouTube has new adverts on every item that requires individual removal, most annoying.  This, to be honest means I rarely see actual adverts, but they do annoy.
Indeed, I was so weary of social media and the money grab today I forsook it to make soup and a rice based hash that was uneatable.  I will finish that tomorrow.  That took up several hours, most hours spent cleaning up afterwards, and awaiting the heavy rain storms forecast for this afternoon.  Of course one passing cloud has been and gone but no storm so far.
Now it is back to Twitter but little enjoyment to be seen today so far. 
It's being so cheery wot keeps me going.
I've just thought, all that soup I made, I hope it cooled quick enough or it's Ecoli time again...

Tuesday Twaddle

The day is dreich, rain much of the morning and little fun to be had although these two on the neighbours roof appear content.  I wandered around Sainsburys attempting to find things, they have moved everything for reasons unknown, and enjoyed the battle with old men driving trolleys they did not understand, old women barging into you as if you did not exist, ignorant women gossiping where you wished to obtain things, they then glare at you when you insist they move is a straightforward manner, crowds desperate for goods they already have too much off and little me in the middle of this.  A mad rush next Monday or Tuesday for the goods that will cover Christmas, I expect that if any store opens on Boxing Day the same people will be back in again filling the trolley while grumbling about lack of cash. 
I meanwhile was merely concerned to meet the Amazon man who attempted to contact me yesterday.  I found him today, blocking the pavement and struggling with the ipad type computer that requires a heavy thump to work properly.  Interestingly his had a crack on the screen and after his fifth attempt to get the screen to change I understood why.  Poor man was trying his best.  As he was delivering a bottle of 'Highland Park' whisky all the way from Orkney they now insist my date of birth is recorded, just in case kids drink it I suppose.  This took longer than driving all the way from Bulgaria where I deduce he came from, his screen had Cyrillic writing, and Russians are all living of Putin's money so I suspect Bulgarian is his nationality.  Eventually the deed was done, he passed on his way with his white van and 500 more drops across Essex to deliver, the rain and ipad not helping. I know how he feels, I have been there, and I sympathise with him and all those others racing around crowded streets for little pay.
I failed to tip him right enough...

Books, The Invisible Cross, and Others

Having finished my first Christmas book the other day I have been awaiting delivery of something to read.  This is not because I have no books lying around awaiting use but because most of them are the slower type of read, I wanted something that I could not put down and would be an easy read.  Too many of the others I can only take one chapter at a time, then my brain requires rest.
Three of these I have never heard off before,  the Ernst Junger one I have wished to read for some time,and I am happy to consider these will be easier to read and more interesting than anything available on the nearest TV set or grubby daily paper.  We will find out son enough.
The books all came via Amazon, for reasons of their own the Junger book was sent separately to the others and came via Royal Mail, dropping happily through the letter box along with a final demand for someone else.  The others however came by Amazons own delivery men, 'White Van Man' and normally a 'Black or Tanned Van Man' who had never been in North Essex before, had 500 drops, no map bar a 'Tom Tom' that was out of date and could not speak English.  Whether he had a licence or insurance I would not like to ask.  So today, Saturday, I am informed books are on the way, again it is natural to expect arrival about seven in the evening but happily he arrived as I looked out the window checking on strange noises outside.  This before noon and with an English driver at that!
Now I suppose I must go and sit in my bed for a few days reading all this stuff, I do not wish it to go to waste.

     Amazon

This is an excellent book, though I would not refer to it 'as eloquent as  any war poem'  but it does reveal one man's heart while engaged in fighting a war, a war about which he new little as it happens.  An Englishman with experience of fighting in India at the end of the Raj finds his 1st Battalion the Cameronians now engaged in fighting a very different and superior enemy.  This he does well, as situations change the battalion suffers losses and he takes over command while his superior becomes Brigade General, a position he also will soon be in line for.  Alas he does not follow the commands of the Divisional Generals behind the lines while fighting at Loos, along with his Brigadier he demands that if they wish him to proceed as planned they must come and look at the situation and give him the order in writing, as he has a right to demand.  They do not come.
This made him possibly a marked man and it was until 1918 he actually became a Brigadier, three years late!
We know all this from the letters he sent to his beloved wife.  These he attempted to write daily, not always possible, and reveal his care for his family, his desire to get out of the line as he was ageing and the burden of command as the years past and the war developed wore him down.  His wife's replies he destroys, to precious for others to see.
This is an excellent insight into the battalion commander under duress, the stress of war, care for his family whom he rarely sees, and the care for his men often dying because of blunders and mistakes.
One interesting observation was his lack of understanding of how the war was going.  His friendship and relationship to senior generals did not help him develop a picture of the overall situation, the newspapers offered nothing but propaganda, and he asked his wife for info he was not receiving.  He lived on after the war, another came and went and he continued his happy life until his death in the 1960's.  The war of course he never spoke about.
Overall a very good book, worth a read.

Several times I have come along the street round the corner I have heard a bird sing happily somewhere above me.  At lunch time as I passed by there he was again, a wonderful cheery song in a gray day.  This time I could see him even though the light was poor and I am glad to know it was this Robin chirping away while Sparrows buzzed about him in the tree.  If the weather deteriorates as some claim it will then  hope he survives.  A month of real winter is due and I hope it s not like the one being experienced in Europe.  I hope the bird survives as the song brightens each day.

Amazon UK Delivery Shambles!

I've spent the day looking through this window for the delivery from Amazon.  Using 'Amazon Logistics' whatever that is, they have my book out last night for delivery today (hooray!).  This means sending it to the local carrier at Basildon  (a hundred miles away) and then he leaves the depot just after ten in the morning to deliver.  This sounds acceptable even if the depot is clearly too far away.  The 'OPD' vans come from Chelmsford thirty minutes drive away!   Recalling my delivery experience I know he would arrive here around lunchtime so I await developments.
Now 'OPD' offer a guide on the laptop indicating what time the van will arrive and this I have found works near perfectly.  Amazon do not offer this.  The tracking on the laptop indicates he has left the depot and 'it's out for delivery.'  It gives no indication of time.
Clearly 'OPD' win hands down.
Royal Mail deliver between nine in the morning until lunchtime, though often it can be much later, and with the sorting office being in town it can be reached if I was out and had to collect. There is no chance of getting to Basildon!  

Late afternoon I go on to Twitter and bleat re non delivery from Amazon.  Short time later an answer from Amazon Help " Our couriers deliver until 21:00! Please keep us posted on the delivery! ^MT"
Deliver up till 21:00!!!!  
You expect me to wait until NINE at NIGHT for a delivery!!!???
I sent my deliver no to them and got the reply that Amazon Help do "not have access to account info on Twitter!"  Then what is the point of being on Twitter or being Amazon Help?
I made it clear that of it is not delivered by Six the door will remain closed and I will cancel the order.  I can get books from elsewhere and have them delivered on time.
Tonight I will be watching the Dundee Derby and do not expect to be taken out of my bed (where I will watch it in comfort) to answer the door to a drookit delivery man offering me a parcel in the dark.

A quick search for 'Amazon Logistics, Basildon' reveals a whole host of complaints about bad delivery, non delivery, lies re delivery and another failing company taking on more work than it can handle.  It has too few drivers, too many inexperienced men and far too big a delivery round for them to complete.  In short a shambles and it is all Amazons fault!  Incompetence at the top using a company on the cheap and not equipped or competent enough to do the job.  This ought to have been sent out on Monday (I ordered the book on Sunday) and it would have arrived today by post if Royal Mail was used.  This is a gift for another and that makes it worse.  If I realised both Amazon and Amazon Logistics (previously called APLE) were such cheapskates I would have gone into town and bought one from Waterstones!   If they insist on using this inept company I will never use them Amazon again! 

It's coming up to six O'clock and I am off to prepare for football!


Addendum!
I had just posted this and settled back to work out the grub situation when there was a knock on the door.  My knees and I struggled down while again the door was rapped yet when I got there he was off up the road again!  I called far from cheerily and he returned with my precious book. 
It was as he struggled in the rain to get his failing computerised device to register that I began to feel sorry for him.  A recent immigrant I thought, desperate for legitimate work, being used by the employer and now knowing the grumpiness of the public!  I found it difficult to abuse him however I will be reluctant to use Amazon Logistics ever again as the link on Amazon UK to complaints covers several years and clearly nothing is being done about this. 

Still now I feel relaxed, at 18:15 hours!