Snaps

 Well, the alarm didn't go off, or if it did, I didn't hear it. It was only the sound of Zoe's car door slamming that caused me to spring to life. I shot downstairs and unlocked the door for Ellie, and once she was in and Zoe had headed to work, I made the coffee and tea and cleared up Jasper's overnight donations.

And breathe.

The rest of the time, prior to school, followed the normal pattern. Ellie was a joy, and everything went smoothly.

I finished my breakfast and started on the challenge that had kept me awake most of the night. You see, it is easy for me to submit my photos to my huge master photo library, but the rest of the family tends to favour their iPads and iPhones rather than MacBooks. How can I make it easy for them to submit photos to the master library? It came to me overnight, but after some initial research this morning, it became clear that I needed some modifications to the design. 

Much of the rest of the day was spent working on this alternative design. Ultimately, like all good solutions, it is quite simple. Anyone in the family group can share snaps to a specific folder on Google Drive. Code that I have written on one of my Raspberry Pis checks that folder on a regular basis, and if it finds images or videos, it files them properly in my master library. I did have to get ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude working on different aspects of this before crafting a final solution.  I am very pleased with the final implementation.

We had to take Ellie into Chichester this afternoon. She had her regular appointment, but Zoe was there to meet us. We left them to it and wandered into town to get some cash and a Turner's Chicken and Ham pie for tomorrow's dinner.

Links

 I was up soon after seven. I enjoyed a coffee while reading the news. It wasn't too long before I heard Di moving about, so I fired up the kettle for her first tea of the day.

 Once we had both had breakfast and were ready to meet the day head-on, she went to her sewing room (where she stayed until this evening's dinner time). I, in the meantime, returned to my project, which is documenting the systems and processes that comprise the West Sussex Data Centre! 

Today, I focused on the processes that underpin the Photo Library. This brought me to a point where a screenshot would be helpful. Much of the remainder of the day was spent working out how best to do this. If I were writing this just in a word processor, it would be easy. If I were writing this just in a web page, it would be easy. I'm not. I'm writing this in my note-taking app, Obsidian. This means that I should be able to write a perfectly well-structured document for reading as a printed or online document. Similarly, I should be able to render the document as a set of independent web pages by using "pandoc" to convert the source to "HTML". The issue that I faced today, was how do I do tjis and and embed some screenshots in the text. It took the whole day to get to the bottom of the problem, and even though I was pitting ChatGPT and Gemini against each other, I solved the problem myself.

We are expecting Ellie first thing tomorrow morning, as Zoe heads to Chichester for her first early shift, but we are hoping for a quiet evening tonight. (The front door hasn't even been unlocked today).

Splashing Out

 My watch went "ping" just before seven. We were expecting to look after Ellie during the day, but my watch said that there was someone at the front door. I wondered if Zoe was dropping Ellie off, so I shot out of bed and went down to open the door. It was only when I opened the door that I realised it wasn't Zoe. It was a cat that had wandered past and triggered the security camera.

Oh well, I was up. I made coffee and settled down with the overnight news. Di wandered down just before eight. I showered and dressed, and just as I settled with my porridge and another coffee, Ellie phoned. She was up and ready for me to collect her. Steaming porridge and coffee were left, and I went to fetch her. 

I had my usual call with the cousins. I was particularly moved to hear that cousin Simon had a totally unexpected visit during the week. His daughter, Kate (who has been working in northwest Scotland), had flown home to Australia (for a friend's wedding) and just turned up at the door to say "Hi!" to Mum and Dad. Surprises like that (assuming they don't cause a heart attack) are just beautiful.

Ellie's friend, Natalie, came to spend the day with her. They were very good (if noisy). Di had wanted to spend the day sewing, so I made sure they stayed away. At lunchtime, I took them swimming. I sat and read my book as they swam, dived, and used the slide. They were there for nearly 2 hours, and the only problem was when they were getting changed at the end. Some chap tried to peer under the cubicle walls. As soon as they told me and they were able to point him out, we went to the reception and explained what had happened. Reception took it very seriously (as you would hope). They called a big security guard and went with the girls to identify the chap. Then we left them to it as they went to drag him out and ban him for life. They asked if I wanted to take any further action, but I decided that they were dealing with it, and I didn't want the girls to freak out. 

Back home, they ate us out of house and home for an hour and then went to Ellie's room to play until Zoe came to collect them.

Snap!

 Di did not sleep well. I, however, slept like a baby and bounced out of bed at 6:35 this morning. It was another 90 minutes before Di came down. In the interim, I had consumed my coffee, read the overnight news, and browsed the 'socials'. 

Once I was washed, dressed, and had broken my fast, I got on with some admon. I logged in to the NS&I and bought some Premium Bonds for Ellie (as I do on the 6th of every month), and then updated the accounts.

With the normal admin complete, I concentrated on doing some maintenance on the photo library. Because of the experiments I was attempting (without actually altering the library itself), it took an hour or so. In the end, I was very satisfied with the results, but it has got me thinking about an alternative way of managing the library in the future. This would involve some investment, so I need to think about it seriously. 

Di had some plants she wanted to bed in, so she spent an hour in the front garden. After some lunch, we pottered for a while and then settled down with our Kindles in the lounge.

We had a long chat with Zoe.  Everything is changing. She is being moved from the Bognor Regis store to Chichester, starting on Monday. This is going to be a significant challenge, as Chichester has problems and she is being assigned there as a bit of a troubleshooter. She has spoken with the Regional Manager and the HR Partner regarding this, and realises she is seen as the person to turn things around. I'm sure more will emerge over the next few weeks as they move into the Christmas period, but it seems that the Trump approach to leadership may not be confined to the USA.

Up

 I was up at 6:45. Ellie had asked me to wake her, so I did my duty, only for her to thank me and go back to sleep for another 45 minutes. Had I known, I could have stayed in bed. She was very chirpy and an absolute joy. We waved her off to school and settled down for our breakfast and to complete the week's shopping list.

The morning followed the usual pattern for a Thursday. We headed for Sainsbury's and raided the aisles. The list seemed long, and we certainly spent a little more than usual. When we arrived home, Lottie was already there doing the cleaning upstairs. We heard all about her week in Naples last week. She obviously travelled about while there and saw some of the best and some of the worst of the city and its hinterland. I am pretty sure she wouldn't return.

We spent some time after lunch examining the blood test results that Diane has received. There was one marker that raised an eyebrow, so we did a lot of research, concluding that it was something to watch and investigate, but not something to cause undue panic. I suspect she will hear from the GP when he/she has had a chance to review the results.

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent in the lounge with our Kindles.

Zoe has been in Dartford today. She is on the way home at present. Ellie, in the meantime, is at a friend's house, and we will go and collect her soon and take her home.

Just a Quiet Day

I was up at 6:15, ready for Ellie's arrival at 6:30. After a quick cuddle, she headed upstairs to get into bed with Nana for a cuddle and warm-up. I took Di a cup of tea and then went down to read the news of the Democrats' triumph in the US midterms. This was news that probably cheered up most of the planet... and will only be surpassed when Trump is finally out of office (and hopefully behind bars).

My morning was spent catching up on some admin and dabbling with some backups. Di had her annual MOT at the doctor's. One reality of modern life is that it is becoming harder to buy things (particularly software or digital media). What it means is that you tend to accumulate subscriptions to use some software or to watch some media. I spent some time culling some of these subscriptions. This alerted me to an improvement I could make in next year's accounting spreadsheet. I have made some notes, and in December, when I start to craft the spreadsheet for next year, I will make these changes.

The afternoon was spent with my Kindle and the latest mystery from Iceland's rural police department (courtesy of a Finnish author).

Zoe has a very early start tomorrow (she has to get up to Dartford), so Ellie is staying with us overnight tonight.

Up Town Funk

I limited my intake to a single coffee this morning. I had a trip. Today was the Autumn lunch for the Band of Brothers. This is the event for which I did a recce about two weeks ago. The original cast of 7 has dwindled to 4 since I booked the table, but illnesses and sudden hospital appointments can’t be ignored at our age. Di dropped me off at the station, and I settled with my Kindle for the couple of hours it would take to get to London Victoria. Di, in the meantime, had a day planned around the Haskins Garden Centre!

The journey to London went without a hitch, the train arriving in Victoria within a few minutes of the schedule. I dropped down into the Tube and made my way to St Pancras. I was a little early, so I took a slow stroll through the concourse, stopping to look at the various shops and to admire the Christmas decorations (even if they were up before Di's birthday, which is the next festival that we should all be celebrating).

I wandered into The Betjeman Arms, and I was shown to our table. Brian arrived almost immediately, followed by Charlie and Paul. We chatted at length. Charlie had had a serious health scare during the summer, and this was an opportunity to get the whole story from the horse's mouth. In summary, he had a significant blockage in his carotid artery. Over the next few months, after many tests, they decided to operate and remove the spongy blockage. This appeared to go well, but he later developed an infection, which also proved to be incredibly serious. After another stay in hospital, he now appears to be well, and he has been discharged. He will, of course, need annual monitoring. 

When we had heard the details of Cjarlie's health scare, we were ready to look at the menu. I started with "Honey and Mustard Roasted Snags". No! I didn't have a clue either. It turned out they were inch-long slices of sausage cooked in honey and mustard... and they were delicious. I follwed the snags with "Brixham Cod" cooked with fennel, Fowey mussels and 'nduja butter. It was good choice. We carried on chatting until Paul had to leave for an afternoon appointment. Brian left at the same time, but Charlie and I carried on for another 30 minutes or so, the caught the Tube together to start our respective journeys home.

I got to Victoria just in time to catch the 15:35 train to Bognor Regis, and settled into First Class for, what turned out to be, a quiet and uneventful journey.

It was Parents' evening at Ellie's school. Though I usually attend, I was still on the train at the appointed time, so Di went along with Zoe. The feedback was very good, and her teacher has no concerns at all about her progress and her application in class.

Not Much

 There's not much to report. I had a bladder interruption at 03:30 and failed to get back to sleep afterwards. Every time I started to drop off, Jasper decided to yowl and bring me back to full consciousness. He was not popular when I finally gave up at 06:00

Ellie was dropped off at 06:30 and went straight up to cuddle Nana and go back to sleep. Snubbed, I sat and drank my coffee and read the overnight news. I woke Ellie at 07:40 so she had time to eat and get ready for school.

During the morning, I reviewed some cleanup routines and optimised them. Then, once Di was up to full power, I walked into the village to post her parcel. When I arrived home, she was in a cleaning frenzy. I decided the safest thing to do was sit in the Orangery and work out next week's menus and this week's shopping list. When the frenzy died down, we had lunch, then popped along to the Vet to collect some meds for Jasper.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet, and we made the most of this by sitting in the lounge with our Kindles.  The phone rang. It was the company that will install our solar panels. They confirmed our acceptance and our deposit. They also scheduled a visit for their installation surveyor. Finally, they requested a copy of our latest electricity bill so they could get the process underway for our feed-in to the grid. I was impressed; they seem to be on the ball.

Can you dig it?

I was up soon after seven, thanks again to Jasper. It wasn't a major inconvenience, as I had been dozing for a while. Almost immediately, I got a message to call Zoe, which I did. Ellie had not stayed at Poppy's overnight. At 23:30, she decided she wanted to come home. Zoe was not impressed. Having brought her home, Zoe couldn't sleep but had an early start. She decided to go to work regardless, but Ellie had to phone me as soon as he was awake. At 9:10, she called, and I went to collect her and bring her here until Zoe finished work.

Despite this, we had a fairly quiet morning. I read through the information regarding the solar panels again and exchanged queries with ChatGPT. Finally, happy that I had done my due diligence, I pressed the button to accept the proposal. No doubt I will hear from them in the next 48 hours... though it is unlikely they will schedule an installation before January.

This afternoon found me in unfamiliar surroundings. I was in the front garden with a gardening fork and some shears. There was a patch of hedging that Di wanted eradicated. I trimmed it down as far as I could with the shears, and then attacked the roots with the fork. An hour later, the hedge had been grubbed out, the ground turned over with some fresh compost, and Di was ready to plant some bulbs.

Zoe collected Ellie mid-afternoon. It was clear that Zoe was wiped out and just needed to get home and have a sleep on the couch. We waved them off, and once the garden equipment had been stored, we settled for some Kindle time.

Blackout

Yesterday evening turned out to be great fun.  The show started at 20:00 with a compere, James Alderson, who kept the whole show together. He was very funny and, being local (from Havant), he had plenty of digs at all the local towns. He also worked the audience well. The first comedian was Stephen K. Amos, who, like all of the principals, has frequently been on TV. He was very good and very relaxed in his delivery. He had us roaring with laughter. When he finished, there was an intermission. The person (whale) sitting in front of me took the opportunity to go and get his second refill of two beers. When the show restarted, we had Zoe Lyons telling us about life in Brighton and the dubious pleasures of a colonoscopy (though you could argue there is a significant crossover between the two). Another intermission saw the Orca in front of me get his third and fourth refill of beer and sit back down just as Sarah Pascoe came on for the final set. She was very funny, but rather chaotic. The show finished at about 22:30, and we were home by 23:00.

We both slept well. I was in danger of actually having a bit of a lay-in, but Jasper had other ideas. He started yowling at the top of his voice and didn't stop until I got up. It was clear, when I got downstairs, that he had been telling me that he had left me an overnight present. This was a present I could have cheerfully foregone at seven in the morning. 

We were adamant that we didn't want to know the results of "Traitors" last night. Our iPhones,  watches, and iPads were left alone. I had asked that the cousins give no spoilers during the weekly call (which wasn't difficult, as none seem to watch it). I made do with writing some documentation on the MacBook until we were both ready for the finale. We sat in the kitchen, drinking coffee, and watched the final play out. It was an excellent outcome, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Remembering it was Halloween, I walked to the local shops to stock up on treats for any kids who might call. Then, on my return, I sat down and reviewed the paperwork, brochures, and calculations for the proposed solar panels. By the end of the research, I was ready to discuss it with Diane, and we collectively agreed to go ahead. I will get this underway tomorrow or Monday.

After we had finished dinner, Ellie and Poppy came round to show off their Halloween outfits. They had already completed their "Trick or Treat" circuit of the estate. We were the final stop.

We loaded them up with treats that would provide sufficient sugar to keep them high until next year. I must say that their costumes were excellent.

Originally, Ellie was due to sleep here tonight, but that has all changed, and she will be at Poppy's instead.

Chuckle

 I was up at 6:30. Zoe had the day off, but was concerned she might have to pop into the shop for an hour or so if they were having problems. I decided to get up in case Ellie needed to be dropped off. She didn't! Being Friday, we would have been up early anyway, as Di had to get to her Cardiac Rehab session.

Di headed off to the community centre as I was finishing my breakfast. I then spent some time reconfiguring some backup procedures for the Pi that I rebuilt last weekend. Once that was complete, tested, and documented, I shut the MacBook and made a start on the ironing.

After lunch, we retired to the Orangery with our Kindles. It was a pleasantly warm afternoon, and I polished off another book. We will be having an early dinner tonight. We have tickets for the "Stitches Comedy Club" at Chichester Festival Theatre tonight. We are both looking forward to it, but we will miss the finale of The Traitors, so we will need to stay offline until we watch the recording tomorrow.

Plans change

 Well, that didn't really go as expected. I explained yesterday that Ellie had not been well. It was decided that, as Zoe had an early start this morning, Di would sleep at Zoe's so Ellie could wake up in her own time, but was at home with mum overnight. Actually, despite the original plan for Ellie to sleep with Zoe, she slept with Diane. It did mean that I had acres of bed to myself overnight, and after an initial howl from Jasper, which was severely admonished, I had a very quiet night.

This morning, once summoned, I drove to Zoe's to pick Di and Ellie up. There was a soaking drizzle that would have made the short walk very unpleasant. Once the girls were back here, I cracked on with the weekly shopping list while they sorted out their breakfast. Ellie was clearly feeling a lot better, and her appetite was returning.

We had a successful trip to Sainsbury's. Di and Ellie split off as we arrived, and I didn't see them again until the shopping was almost finished. Zoe, it seems, is likely to transfer to the Chichester store, which has just undergone a huge refit. They are having some serious management problems, and it looks as if Zoe is being sent in as a troubleshooter. It's not clear when this will start, but it will be a new challenge.

After the shopping was stowed away and Ellie's lunch was cooking, I received a call from the surveyor who visited yesterday. It looks like, after discussions at HQ, he has managed to shave another £300 off the estimate he gave yesterday. I must say, we are seriously tempted, but it would mean dipping into savings (but it would be better than the Government helping themselves... and there is no VAT until next March).

We had some Kindle time after Ellie was collected, and Di managed a long phone call with Denise. I think we have a quiet night ahead. (Hopefully).

Panels

 I was up before seven. I made coffee and tea, and Di arrived in the kitchen just as everything was ready. She had to do her INR test this morning, and then she had Pilates on the agenda.

After breakfast, I spent some time discussing the efficacy of solar panels with my mate ChatGPT. I provided location, historical energy consumption, slope and orientation of the roof, and some basic requirements. I got some good analysis which would come in useful later in the morning.

After the research, I returned to the study cleanup. The task was to root through the cable box and ditch anything I no longer needed. Well, it took a while, but the box (actually a crate) is now effectively empty. Everything has been moved to a box ready for disposal at the local tip.

The doorbell rang. It was a surveyor from a solar energy company. We spent the next 90 minutes working through various designs, options, and requirements. My earlier research paid off inasmuch as I could ask sensible questions and answer his questions. We even took a drone out to the back garden so that he could survey the roof. I was very impressed with the modelling software he had. In the end, he sent me a quotation for a system along with all of the assumptions and calculations. Then over the next hour or so, he refined the quotation twice. I took the opportunity to WhatsApp cousin Tim, who already has a system installed (different supplier). It has certainly given me something to think about, though there is a bit of an up-front outlay. Food for thought.

Di arrived back from Pilates soon after the surveyor had left. We discussed the system and looked at the designs. No decisions were made, and I think this will need some think-time.

The phone rang. It was Zoe. Ellie (staying at Pete's) was unwell and wanted to come home. Could Pete drop her off with us until Zoe got back from work? Of course she could. This did, however, mean that I had to shift the contents of my study back from her bedroom to the study, in case she wanted to go to bed. Pete dropped her off, and she did look pretty rough. She wasn't with us for long, as Zoe finished work early and came to collect her. She will be with us tomorrow, however.

We managed to get an hour of Kindle time before dinner.

Dust

 The problem with having an idea as you go to bed is that every waking minute during the night is spent trying to suppress the idea and, at the same time, refine it. So it was that I had an idea regarding the creation of my documentation and the ultimate rendering of web pages as I drifted off to sleep. Every time I woke during the night, the idea resurfaced and was refined. By the time I got up at 6:15 (no, there was no reason to be up that early), I had the whole program written in my head. I went downstairs, fired up the coffee maker, and transcribed my mental image into a program. It ran, exactly as required, the first time. I clearly have not lost my mojo.

It was a couple of hours before Di came down, but by then I was reading the overnight news and the socials. Talking of the overnight news, I was delighted to see that Harry Kane had won the Ballon D'Or last night. A well-deserved accolade for his sheer hard work and consistency.

Chunks of today have, after a few hints, been dedicated to clearing my study. Crates, devices, cables, and archives were dragged into Ellie's bedroom. I cleaned the carpets, removed defunct wiring,  dusted the surfaces, and revelled in the acres of desktop that had become available. (This, of course, will disappear tomorrow when I have to bring everything back. Having said that, the first task tomorrow will be to raid my cable-crate and chuck out all of the old cables, plugs, switches, phones, and so forth that have accumulated over the past dozen years or so.

Di had an appointment at the hairdresser while this was going on. She had a subtle change in the balance of colour added to her hair. It looks really nice.

I mentioned in the last week or so that I had received a text asking me to call a number regarding authorisation of a Lloyds payment for a flight. Well, today I received an almost identical message purporting to come from Nationwide. Well, unless Nationwide send their text messages from Vietnam, I decided this was not for me. Morons!

Dementia may be setting in. I was sitting in the Orangery reading my Kindle. I looked up and saw the time on the clock and realised it was time to start dinner. It was only when everything was underway that I realised that I hadn't reset the clock in the Orangery, and I was an hour ahead of schedule! I switched everything off. I returned to my book, and then when the correct (GMT) time rolled around, I continued cooking dinner.