Another day and another visit to the doctor's surgery. This time it was the boy. He had to go and see the ear specialist. She was charged with checking whether all those ear infections of his youth had impaired his hearing.
The infections had certainly impaired my health. Countless nights over the past two years spent lying on cushions on the floor while he had to be cajoled to sleep with a combination of stories on the sofa or cartoons.
The doctor showed him an array of gadgets and stuck things in his ears. The bet bit was when she said he should only press a red button when he heard a sound.
He kept hearing sounds.
The thrill of the room catapulted him into a frenzy of excitement. And it's difficult to discern whether the doctor said he was fine just to get him out.
We paid and left and went for a coffee at a cafe which looked out onto the majesty of St Lazare church. The wobbly tables seemed to perpetuate his merriment.
I called it a day after that taking the train westwards towards the radio station as the boy and his mother headed back home.
I am relieved he is fine. I can now concentrate on the aching limbs from my yoga class.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
The Cold
What I particularly liked this evening was the way it felt tropical as I prepared to get onto the bike.
There's a big electronic clock near the radio station which beams out the time and the temperature. As I arrived at 1209 it told me it was minus four.
As I left at 1851, it had rocketed to minus two.
A time for rejoicing then? No, not really as the cycle paths seemed to have been omitted from the gritting programme.
"Danger and I are old friends," said the Romulan captain in one episode of Star Trek.
And I negotiated the paths gingerly. There was a bit of sliding but nothing I couldn't handle at a snail's pace.
The big disappointment of the trip to London was that Zavvi - the benighted DVD and CD store - wasn't giving away the DVDs I wanted.
In fact it didn't even have the DVDs I craved. I thought here's a business that's called in the administrators, it will be a dream time to buy.
Forget that. I looked for the DVD sets of Star Trek - the original series - and found a few films featuring the old crusties from that era. Not even discounted.
I asked the cashier if they had the DVD sets hidden away somewhere. She looked at her computer and said nothing seemed to be around and said a few were due in but would be at an astronomical price.
She advised me to go to amazon which is why I guess Zavvi was in trouble because people were doing that kind of thing anyway
I did find the Star Wars DVDs at something of a discount though and bought the first three episodes.
Now I have 1-6, the complete collection.
And even though I found the first three tedious I shall sit through them again so that I can have the chronological thrill.
Just need to find the appropriate moment to binge on them all.
Perhaps a day recovering from a cold.
There's a big electronic clock near the radio station which beams out the time and the temperature. As I arrived at 1209 it told me it was minus four.
As I left at 1851, it had rocketed to minus two.
A time for rejoicing then? No, not really as the cycle paths seemed to have been omitted from the gritting programme.
"Danger and I are old friends," said the Romulan captain in one episode of Star Trek.
And I negotiated the paths gingerly. There was a bit of sliding but nothing I couldn't handle at a snail's pace.
The big disappointment of the trip to London was that Zavvi - the benighted DVD and CD store - wasn't giving away the DVDs I wanted.
In fact it didn't even have the DVDs I craved. I thought here's a business that's called in the administrators, it will be a dream time to buy.
Forget that. I looked for the DVD sets of Star Trek - the original series - and found a few films featuring the old crusties from that era. Not even discounted.
I asked the cashier if they had the DVD sets hidden away somewhere. She looked at her computer and said nothing seemed to be around and said a few were due in but would be at an astronomical price.
She advised me to go to amazon which is why I guess Zavvi was in trouble because people were doing that kind of thing anyway
I did find the Star Wars DVDs at something of a discount though and bought the first three episodes.
Now I have 1-6, the complete collection.
And even though I found the first three tedious I shall sit through them again so that I can have the chronological thrill.
Just need to find the appropriate moment to binge on them all.
Perhaps a day recovering from a cold.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
The Return
Well a sabbatical is over and the life between Paris and London is back on. Sunday queues at Gare du Nord and travails with my ontology.
There were masses at the Gare du Nord and I ended up behind the person who had passport issues. I’ve always found it odd that we have to go through French and British immigration in Paris while in London you only have French immigration to clear.
What do they care about in Paris that they don’t care about it in London or is it the other way round?
But the nature of travel is people. And Patience. Experience has taught me not to panic at times like this. They’re being scrupulous for a reason. The train will not leave without me.
And sure enough it didn’t. In fact it failed to depart on time and with problems in the Channel Tunnel dating back from last year’s fire – we were rescheduled to arrive at 11.47 rather than 11.19am.
Since the Guardian now sports shiny new offices at King’s Cross what difference does that make?
I’ll still be on time for my 12.30pm start. But I had hoped to get there really early to browse around the new high spec superstructure and recalibrate.
No such fortune.
As the train sped through northern France it does appear that we’ve been lucky in Paris to have escaped the brunt of the cold. The fields have a slaver of snow and lakes and ponds were partially frozen.
Because of the huge demand for train 9019 I ended up in one of the more expensive seats.
This is good for racking up the points to maintain my Carte Blanche status – and access to the lounges in London and Paris – but a lavish breakfast isn’t as good as a slap up supper which you obviously get on the evening trains.
But since that isn’t an option, you have to run with the reality.
And the truth is the Guardian has moved to within a 10 minute walk of St Pancras International.
O lucky man.
There were masses at the Gare du Nord and I ended up behind the person who had passport issues. I’ve always found it odd that we have to go through French and British immigration in Paris while in London you only have French immigration to clear.
What do they care about in Paris that they don’t care about it in London or is it the other way round?
But the nature of travel is people. And Patience. Experience has taught me not to panic at times like this. They’re being scrupulous for a reason. The train will not leave without me.
And sure enough it didn’t. In fact it failed to depart on time and with problems in the Channel Tunnel dating back from last year’s fire – we were rescheduled to arrive at 11.47 rather than 11.19am.
Since the Guardian now sports shiny new offices at King’s Cross what difference does that make?
I’ll still be on time for my 12.30pm start. But I had hoped to get there really early to browse around the new high spec superstructure and recalibrate.
No such fortune.
As the train sped through northern France it does appear that we’ve been lucky in Paris to have escaped the brunt of the cold. The fields have a slaver of snow and lakes and ponds were partially frozen.
Because of the huge demand for train 9019 I ended up in one of the more expensive seats.
This is good for racking up the points to maintain my Carte Blanche status – and access to the lounges in London and Paris – but a lavish breakfast isn’t as good as a slap up supper which you obviously get on the evening trains.
But since that isn’t an option, you have to run with the reality.
And the truth is the Guardian has moved to within a 10 minute walk of St Pancras International.
O lucky man.
Friday, 2 January 2009
The Cardigan
There is a shop near where we live which is deeply trendy. It's so cool it opens at 1pm and closes at 7pm. Last summer I bought a straw hat that my grandad approved of. He is 92 and said it reminded him of the ones worn back in Jamaica.
As the hat only cost a couple of euros I thought go ahead. I also bought a summer shirt. On subsequent visits there hasn't been anything quite so appealing but the other day I saw a cardigan. I wasn't wearing the right kind of shirt in terms of material so I didn't buy it.
Went back today - well after 1pm -with the right kind of shirt and it wasn't open but the keys were in the door on the other side and the lights were on.
I went off on a few errands, returned and still the same scenario. Lights on and no one home. I'm obviously not supposed to have the cardigan. So I'll spend the money on a better pair of tennis shoes.
The current ones have cracked up at the edges. In fact there's no grip on the left side of the left foot and that could be the reason for the crocked leg.
I doubt there's any link but at least it gives me food for thought as I trip along to the Adidas store on Tuesday to purchase a new pair.
Ones with übergrips.
As the hat only cost a couple of euros I thought go ahead. I also bought a summer shirt. On subsequent visits there hasn't been anything quite so appealing but the other day I saw a cardigan. I wasn't wearing the right kind of shirt in terms of material so I didn't buy it.
Went back today - well after 1pm -with the right kind of shirt and it wasn't open but the keys were in the door on the other side and the lights were on.
I went off on a few errands, returned and still the same scenario. Lights on and no one home. I'm obviously not supposed to have the cardigan. So I'll spend the money on a better pair of tennis shoes.
The current ones have cracked up at the edges. In fact there's no grip on the left side of the left foot and that could be the reason for the crocked leg.
I doubt there's any link but at least it gives me food for thought as I trip along to the Adidas store on Tuesday to purchase a new pair.
Ones with übergrips.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
The New Year
A happy new year to all readers of the blog.
I am starting the year with unbridled optimism and writing 'readers'. With the blog monitor I know that there are 'readers'. So clearly not all the verbiage is in vain. There was a message from a satisfied customer a few weeks back who just wrote a line to say that she liked it - that's all - nothing more -voilà. I'm assuming it is a she as the name was Doris.
But I don't want to assume too much.
New year and it should be a time for resolutions. I have no idea what I would like to give up or what I would really like to do. I am reading more and that is good. I even ordered a few books off Amazon the other day. Wow - somehow I felt more intelligent doing that than purchasing songs off Itunes.
Though with the iphone I have downloaded a translator onto the phone. So at any moment I can clear up any of those niggling gender issues for nouns.
However the paranoid coward within is reluctant to whip out the phone on a whim for enlightenment just in case someone whips it away.
New year - same old same old.
I am starting the year with unbridled optimism and writing 'readers'. With the blog monitor I know that there are 'readers'. So clearly not all the verbiage is in vain. There was a message from a satisfied customer a few weeks back who just wrote a line to say that she liked it - that's all - nothing more -voilà. I'm assuming it is a she as the name was Doris.
But I don't want to assume too much.
New year and it should be a time for resolutions. I have no idea what I would like to give up or what I would really like to do. I am reading more and that is good. I even ordered a few books off Amazon the other day. Wow - somehow I felt more intelligent doing that than purchasing songs off Itunes.
Though with the iphone I have downloaded a translator onto the phone. So at any moment I can clear up any of those niggling gender issues for nouns.
However the paranoid coward within is reluctant to whip out the phone on a whim for enlightenment just in case someone whips it away.
New year - same old same old.
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
The Year's End
December 31 is fast approaching and it surely is the time to look back at 2008. But I'm not going to do so since I am not in that kind of mood.
The raison d'etre of the blog is upon us. From Sunday I'll be back at the Guardian and resuming the weekly commute for a couple of days in London. My how it's been wonderful spending more time with my family. But even the bestest things must come to an end.
There have been many changes at the Guardian since I went off last December - the biggest is that it has moved home and is now nearer St Pancras International.
It is kind of the GMEN group to aid my weekly journeys thus. All that cash spent on a huge shunt and I can step off the train and into the office.
I do prefer a bit of separation but that's no longer the issue.
The raison d'etre of the blog is upon us. From Sunday I'll be back at the Guardian and resuming the weekly commute for a couple of days in London. My how it's been wonderful spending more time with my family. But even the bestest things must come to an end.
There have been many changes at the Guardian since I went off last December - the biggest is that it has moved home and is now nearer St Pancras International.
It is kind of the GMEN group to aid my weekly journeys thus. All that cash spent on a huge shunt and I can step off the train and into the office.
I do prefer a bit of separation but that's no longer the issue.
Sunday, 28 December 2008
The Cold
Holy Yuletide. A Batman DVD ended up in the Christmas stocking. It has left the girls quizzical and the boy intrigued. As it is Batman from the 1960s/70s with Adam West and Burt Ward - the live action version, it brings back happy memories for me. And as for the children, they know no better.
It was given an airing on Boxing Day after a Christmas walk around a neighbouring village left us all freezing. But we were all more alert afterwards. I read in the paper that a 50 minute walk in the countryside leaves you sharper than a 50 minute trudge in the city.
Apparantly the brain is better off as it can relax amid the bucolic splendour. Whatever.
I feel I'd get the niceties of Batman and Robin after any old trek.
Of late Batman on the small screen has tended to concentrate on the dark edgy side of his personality rather than the 60s take of the camped crusader. I suppose I grew up with the colourful rendition.
It was an appropriate present as Eartha Kitt died over Christmas and I seem to remember she turned up once or twice as Catwoman.
Purrfect tribute.
It was given an airing on Boxing Day after a Christmas walk around a neighbouring village left us all freezing. But we were all more alert afterwards. I read in the paper that a 50 minute walk in the countryside leaves you sharper than a 50 minute trudge in the city.
Apparantly the brain is better off as it can relax amid the bucolic splendour. Whatever.
I feel I'd get the niceties of Batman and Robin after any old trek.
Of late Batman on the small screen has tended to concentrate on the dark edgy side of his personality rather than the 60s take of the camped crusader. I suppose I grew up with the colourful rendition.
It was an appropriate present as Eartha Kitt died over Christmas and I seem to remember she turned up once or twice as Catwoman.
Purrfect tribute.
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