Not Much Ado About Anything

 I was up well before seven and halfway through my coffee by the time Di came down for her tea (I did offer to take it up). Once I was washed and dressed, I headed out for my morning walk. Though this overlapped with the time when the kids are heading for school, I was surprised at how quiet the walk was and how few people I passed on my trek.

Once home, I had a light breakfast, and then cracked on with some admin before returning to my project to set up significant events as albums in the new photo library manager. I realised that I wanted a program to scan the whole library for dates where the number of assets was excessive. I described the problem to ChatGPT and described how it should work. It accepted the challenge and wrote the code for me, and it worked first time. If it hadn't needed to use Python libraries to talk to the library manager, I would have written it myself, but my view of Python is that it is an abomination, and I really don't want to use it.

We got a call from the school. Ellie was worried that Zoe hadn't ordered a hot lunch and had forgotten to prepare a packed lunch.  We quickly made a packed lunch, and I took it to the school. Meanwhile, Di had contacted Zoe, who confirmed that she had ordered the hot lunches (today was curry), but evidently Ellie had forgotten.

We had a quiet start to the afternoon. I sat and read my Kindle, and Di worked on her sewing project in her sewing room. 

AT the end of school, Ellie (with her shadow, Poppy) came here so that we could take Ellie to Chichester for her appointment with Hannah. We got there with a few minutes to spare. Ellie went up to see Hannah, while Di, Poppy, and I remained in the waiting room with our various devices for company. After the session, I dropped the girls back at Zoe's, and we went home for dinner.

Early Bird

 I slept well, but I was dozing by six, and when Jasper started shouting at 6:40, I decided to get up. I don't know why. He immediately quietened down and then stayed put when I went downstairs. I took Di a tea and settled down for a coffee, quickly followed by another coffee!

I read the news and then reviewed the changes that I had made to the Photo system yesterday. The few changes I had made worked perfectly. I asked Google to download ("Takeout") a bunch more albums. This was not an insignificant collection (one album alone had 1100 photos in it), and it took most of the day to process them and create the equivalent albums in Immich.

Di spent much of the day on one of her sewing projects. In fact, even as I write this after dinner, she is still pressing some of the seams she has sewn.

I managed to go out for a walk at lunchtime. I was out for over an hour and became engrossed in the new audiobook. Once I returned, I spent some time tidying up some of the code I have developed over the last week or two. (After all, code should be developed in a way that makes it easy to maintain, and this means checking that the commentary in the program still reflects the actual code.)

Just Faffing

 It was a nice day. Not too hot, not too cold, not too breezy; just nice. I was up around seven and took Di a cup of tea before sitting down with my coffee.  At nine, I had the weekly call with my Empson cousins. There were seven of us on the call today, and our discussions ranged from zoos, through politics, to system backup design. Geeky, but fun!

After some admin, I headed out for a walk. I headed in the opposite direction from my usual walking route. I needed a track that would loop through the village so that I could collect Di's meds on the way through. I then took the back way to our estate and did a partial loop there before heading home. My audiobook drew to a close, and I started on a new one for the last ten minutes of the walk.

Back home, I returned to my project with the photos. The main coding may be finished, but there are still many photos that need to be filed correctly. This was a good fill-in activity for whenever I had time. During the afternoon, I managed to speak to Kim about her upcoming birthday. I now have a clear plan for her present. I also spent some time in the garden pruning the climbing rose, which has become rampant.

Not much else to report.

Final Stretch

 I was up before seven, and as Di had her Cardiac Rehab this morning, she wasn't far behind me. Having cleaned up the present Jasper had left overnight, I made the coffee and tea and settled down with the news. Once the coffee was finished, I went to wash and dress and then set off on my morning walk. It was a delightful morning. The sun was out, it was about 16C and there was no wind. My audiobook kept me company and is rapidly approaching the climax.

Di headed off for her session just as I arrived home. I settled down with some breakfast and another coffee and looked at the results of the overnight scans of the photo library. The scans had worked, but the results were not what I had expected. It took a couple of hours to get to the bottom of the problem, but once the error was cleared, everything started to work as designed. Indeed, I would now conclude that the whole exercise is complete and I have a fully functional Photo Library manager running at home. Now, you may argue that I have spent an inordinate amount of time on this, but the reality is that I have between 50 and 80 thousand photos, filed by date and numerous Google Albums showing collections of the online versions of these photos. I wanted to ensure that I was not dependent on Google or Apple and that my own library was just as complete and fully backed up locally. I will probably go through and polish the documentation for each of the routines I have written, but other than that, I think I'm done.

We had a quiet afternoon in the Orangery with our Kindles. I finished the book that I started yesterday, and have downloaded four or five more.

Binning it

 I was up well before seven. Diane and Ellie were still away with the fairies as I brewed my coffee and waited to hear movement upstairs. They had both emerged by 7:30, and everything kicked into gear. Zoe, who had been away overnight because of work in Leatherhead, managed to get back here in time to see Ellie potter off to school. 

While Di got ready, I spent some time finishing the shopping list and re-creating some of the Google photo albums. Once Di was ready, we raided Sainsbury's. There seemed to be a lot of zombies there today. Several times I found myself catching the eye of some chap or other as we tried to compete as to how far we could roll our eyes or shake our heads in disbelief.

Back home, we had the usual banter with Lottie as she was finishing upstairs. Once everything was stowed away, I returned to the Photo Library where I spent much of the afternoon. Mid-afternoon, Di met up with Zoe to go to Ellie's school for the parents' Year 5 welcome briefing. I went to a neighbour's who is about to go away for 3 weeks and needed a key holder. This involved not just a bunch of keys, but also a briefing on how their security system worked. I took notes, but I hope they won't be needed.

Back home, while I cooked dinner, Di raided the fridge and checked the dates on everything in there. Anything that had passed its scheduled date was ruthlessly binned; the jars were cleaned, and they were put out for recycling.

A Birthday

 I was up soon after 6:30. We didn't see Ellie this morning as Zoe had a late start, and Ellie was able to leave from home. Once I was caffeinated, showered and dressed, I went out for my walk. It was a bit cooler today, and was very comfortable for walking (there is still no need for a jacket of any description).

Once home, with breakfast finished and cleared away, I sat down to catch up on some admin before starting on a pile of ironing. Di was insistent that she could stand comfortably now, and she would finish the pile. I settled down for some coding until lunchtime.

After lunch, we had a quiet afternoon in the Orangery until Ellie and Poppy turned up for dinner. Then it got a bit noisy for an hour or so, until I took Poppy home. Having said that, even now, the two of them are chatting away on FaceTime or WhatsApp. (Ellie is staying with us overnight tonight as Zoe has an early start tomorrow.)

Today was Jon's birthday. He had taken the day off, and he and Kim went to Tangmere Military Aviation Museum. They have just been on the phone to say what a brilliant museum it is and is a "must-do". Jon even had a go in the English Electric Lightning simulator. They spent a couple of hours or so touring the exhibits before going to Arundel to visit the castle, and then on to The Black Rabbit for lunch. It sounds like Jon had a wonderful birthday.

Rain

 We woke up early so that we could be ready for Ellie's drop-off at 6:30. We were greeted by heavy rain, which lasted until mid-afternoon. Ellie bounced into the house, and after a cuddle, went up to Nana. Much of the next hour or so was shared with her friend Poppy over the phone. At 8:30, wrapped up in her raincoat, she toddled off to school. It seems strange not to accompany her on the school walk.

Di had plans to meet with Pauline for coffee, so once she was showered and dressed, she headed off to Rustington for a few hours. I did a few chores, then settled back down to my coding projects and when I reached a suitable breakpoint, switched to the ongoing capture of Google photo albums. My only interruptions were from Jasper wanting food or needing his litter tray cleaned.

It was mid-afternoon before Di returned. We sat and chatted for a while before settling in the Orangery with our Kindles.

After dinner, Zoe and Ellie popped in. They had discovered the Life 360 app, which provides much finer-grained tracking from the phone (iPhone or Android). It took a bit of faffing to get it set up (and there is clearly more to learn), but we now have the essentials in place.

Hot Water

 Yesterday evening didn't go quite as planned. Mid-evening, we received a call from Zoe to say her hot water had failed, and she asked if she could come here to wash her hair and for Ellie to have a bath and hair wash, ready for school. They were not here for too long, but it was a shame it disrupted their evening plans.

We were up soon after seven today. We wouldn't be seeing Ellie before school as Zoe wasn't starting until nine, and Ellie would walk herself to school from home. We had a quiet hour or two before scooping up Jasper and taking him to the vet for his latest checkup. The vet was running late, so there was a lot of hanging around. He was seen eventually and seems to have made a slight improvement.

Once back home, I set off on my walk. I was, however, interrupted by a shower, which caused me to cut short my original route. Once home, we sat and chatted over lunch, then I went to clear some space in the garage to give the heating engineer (Ross) easy access to the boiler for its annual maintenance inspection. I returned to my little coding exercise when that was done.

Mid-afternoon, Ross arrived and set about the annual service. As usual, we had a long chat while he worked. When he had finished, he popped around to Zoe's to check out the hot water problem. It had healed itself over the last 24 hours, and Ross assured Zoe that the intervention she had tried was the right thing to do... but she probably did it for too long, then didn't wait for at least 10 minutes to see it reset. Anyway, it's all fixed now.

Cancelled

Well, I managed to stay in bed until just after seven.  I had slept extremely well, and so had Di. I went down to make the coffee and tea, and she soon joined me. The weather looked promising, but I was in no mood for an early walk.

Once we had kicked into gear, I returned to my coding for an hour or so, then I donned my outdoor shoes, grabbed my AirPods and headed off to walk into Shripney and pop into M&S. My Audiobook chatted away in my ears as I walked, and I enjoyed the pleasant late summer warmth. (I don't subscribe to this nonsense about Autumn starting on 1st September - that is just "dumbing down" for people who don't understand when the Autumnal Equinox occurs). After picking up a gift voucher at M&S, I slipped across to Sainsbury's to use the loo (two coffees were taking their toll), before heading home. By the time I got in, I had covered over 6km and taken a bit over 75 minutes (including the shopping). 

Di was not at home. She had been summoned to Zoe's to look at the landscaping progress and help Zoe decide on the colour of grout to be used between the patio slabs. I settled back down to my code, and by the time she arrived back home, I had finished the latest program in the suite and was happy with all of the test results. I was even congratulated by ChatGPT on the elegance of one segment of the code.

Once DI arrived back, we sat and chatted for a while and then retired to the Orangery with our Kindles. I eventually stirred myself and finished the preparation of dinner.

Early Start

The trouble with the way in which my brain functions is that it finds programming a stimulating task. It continues to plot pathways through code, examines them and discards or accepts them while I try to sleep. As long as I am asleep, that does not cause a problem. As soon as I wake, however,  a light comes on in my brain, and it exposes all the overnight processing. That's it. Sleep is no longer an option. By five this morning, I was wide awake; by six I was up making coffee. 

Much of the overnight code was committed to the MacBook as I enjoyed my coffee. Once Di had emerged, I went for a shower and then made breakfast. Being Saturday, we had the call with the cousins. We got a brief glimpse of baby Kyloe - cousin Maggie's great-great-grandson. He was born earlier this week and is a tiny little thing.

I went for a walk during the morning, looping through the village so that I could collect Di's meds from the Chemist. Early afternoon, I spent a while removing some old floating shelves and putting up some new shelves in Diane's sewing room.

I managed to get some more coding done before starting on dinner.

Noi mangiamo

My body clock decided that I should get up at 6:30, even though there was no reason why I should. Zoe had a day off, so we wouldn't see Ellie before school. I decided to go for my walk an hour earlier than usual, in the hope that I would be home before the forecast rain and drizzle. It was remarkably warm, so I didn't bother with a jacket. Unfortunately, by halfway round, it started to drizzle. I decided that was a signal that I should return home.

Di had her Cardiac Rehab session during the morning, so she disappeared soon after I returned from my walk. I grabbed some breakfast and settled down with the news, email, social media, and my little coding project.

As lunchtime approached, we got ready and met up with Chris and Maureen. I drove us around to Fino's in Felpham, where we settled down for three hours of fine food and completely random chat. DI skipped starters, as usual, but I had a plate of whitebait. Then for the main dishes, Di chose spaghetti carbonara, and I had some lasagne. The food was lovely, and the chat was fun. It was so nice to catch. up. Chris and Maureen have decided that they will not be going on any more foreign holidays or cruises. After his last health scare, they want to stay close by and will explore places they haven't visited in England and Wales.

Once home, we settled with our Kindles.

Radar

I was up early, ready for Ellie's drop-off. She bounced into the house, gave me a cuddle and then went up to Nana, as usual. The first part of the morning followed the usual pattern. It was only school time that things changed. Ellie kissed us goodbye and headed off into the morning to walk to school by herself. Grandpa gave her a few minutes, then he set off for his walk, which just happened to run parallel to Ellie's route. She saw me as she approached the school gates and gave me a wave and a big smile. She's all grown up!

When I arrived back from my walk, I grabbed a coffee and a light breakfast, then completed the week's shopping list. As soon as Di was ready, we headed off to Sainsbury's, where everything went smoothly until we got to the checkout. There, we were selected for a full trolley scan, and when that was complete, we couldn't pay at the self-checkout. It turns out that its card reader was broken.

Back home, Lottie was in full flow, and we chatted while putting the shopping away. Then we left her to finish up, and then settled down for a quiet afternoon. Di spent the afternoon sorting up her study, while I returned to my project.

At the end of the school day, we used our phones to track Ellie as she left school. It was good to know she was on radar!

You'll Walk Alone

I was up early, Ellie was dropped off at 6:31, and I was slightly surprised but ready! After a cuddle, she went upstairs to Nana (closely followed by me, with a cup of tea). We sorted out breakfast and ensured she was ready for school, then, at the allotted time, I walked her to the school gates and headed off for my walk.

I was out for an hour or so, and managed to finish the audiobook I have been listening to for a couple of months. Like the previous books in the Millennium Series, it had been excellent. As I walked the last few hundred yards, I started a new book. I am hoping that my walks will return to a daily schedule now, and I should crack through the books more quickly.

When I arrived home, Diane had already left for Pilates. I settled down with a coffee and some breakfast and returned to my coding project. This kept me occupied most of the day, but this part of it is almost ready for prime time. I think an hour or two, and it will be done. I did stop at various points during the day, clearing some ironing, sorting lunch and so forth.

Di had enjoyed her session at Pilates, and arrived home at about 13:00. She got an alert. The school had sent an email/form regarding permission for Year 5 children to walk to and from school unaccompanied. Zoe authorised this, but for today we still went to greet Ellie as she burst out of the class. She is planning to walk alone tomorrow (though I might, surreptitiosly chose that time to go for my walk).

Year 5

 We had an early start. Zoë was on an early shift, and Ellie was back at school this morning. I was downstairs unlocking the doors and making coffee before 6:30. Ellie bounced into the house and, despite her protestations yesterday, was clearly happy to be going back to school and meeting up with her friends. 

We sorted out some breakfast, and she got herself ready for school. Despite the plan that she should walk to school by herself, she texted me last night to ask if I would walk with her this morning. I told her that I would be honoured to accompany her, and in the end, Diane came along as well. Like the first day of previous school years, it was chaos as so many parents and new starters milled around. Fortunately, with Ellie moving into Year 5, we were able to skip the melee and head to the correct door immediately.

With Ellie wandering into Lime Class (Year 5), Di headed home for breakfast while I headed off for my traditional walk. The latest adventures of Milkael Blomquist and Lisbet Salander kept me company for the next hour or so. I thoroughly enjoyed the walk, and look forward to repeating it tomorrow,

Back home, I grabbed some breakfast and then cleared the accounts ready for the new month. Then I returned to my project. I managed to create a couple of albums in Immich, but discovered that one of them had some images where the dates were wrong. This led to some further analysis and, in the end, I started to develop a program that cross-referenced the EXIF dates in an image with those in my backup images. Because of the approach I am taking, this is being written (with significant help from ChatGPT) in Python. (I should explain that whilst I have written a number of Python programs, I feel that my competence is much the same as my grasp of Spanish, French, or Latin - rudimentary.

Mid-afternoon I went along to collect Ellie from school, but fortunately, Zoe arrived in time, and the two of them went straight home. I returned to my coding, while Di chatted to Denise on the phone.